EX  UBRIS  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORMA^ 


JOHN  HENRY  NASH  LIBRARY 

<8>  SAN  FRANCISCO  <§> 

PRESENTED  TO  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

ROBERT  GORDON  SPRQUL,  PRESIDENT. 


MR.ANDMRS.MILTON  S.RAV 

CECILY,  VIRGINIA  AND  ROSALYN  RAY 

AND  THE 

RAY  OIL  BURNER  CDMPANY 


LETTERS 

OF 

LIZZIE  MCMILLAN 


CAMBRIDGE 

prints  at  Clie  Hitewfo* 


MDCCCCII 


COPYRIGHT   1902  BY  ELIZA  MCMILLAN 
ALL   RIGHTS   RESBRVBD 


In  compliance  with  the  request  of 'friends ,  the 
writer  has  caused  an  edition  of  one  hundred 
copies  of  these  letters  to  be  printed  for  pri- 
vate distribution. 


LETTERS 

PAQUEBOT  POSTE  LA  BOURGOGNE, 

October  26,  1889. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

We  are  nearly  across  the  big  water,  and  when 
you  receive  this  letter  you  will  know  we  have 
arrived  safely. 

William  and  Will  saw  us  off.  For  two  days 
it  was  very  smooth  ;  then  we  had  a  heavy  ground 
swell  for  four  days,  and  you  can  imagine  my  con- 
dition. I  was  dreadfully  sick,  and  so  was  Mrs. 
Fisher,  but  Kate  never  gave  up  at  all.  It  is  nearly 
over  now,  and  we  expect  to  sight  land  in  about 
two  hours  and  to  reach  Havre  at  nine  o'clock 
to-morrow  morning,  where  a  special  train  meets 
us,  and  we  will  be  in  Paris  before  night. 

I  cannot  write  very  well  here  because  the  boat 
rolls  about  so  much.  How  glad  I  will  be  to  step 
on  solid  ground  again  !  We  have  very  large  com- 
fortable staterooms,  but  we  became  very  tired 
of  them  before  we  could  leave  them.  This  after- 
noon it  is  almost  too  cold  and  too  rough  to  be 
on  deck,  and,  besides,  nearly  everybody  is  busy 
writing  letters  to  friends.  I  cannot  say  much  now, 
but  will  write  a  longer  letter  soon  after  reaching 
Paris. 


(2  \ 

Remember  me  to  my  friends  in  Aylmer,  and 
give  love  to  Charlie  and  Mary,  and  accept  a  great 
deal  for  yourself,  dear. 

Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 
85    RUE  DE  BOETIE, 

November  14,  1889. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

The  time  has  gone  so  very  fast  lately  that  I 
had  no  idea  how  long  it  was  since  I  had  written 
to  you.  It  was  November  jd. 

The  Exposition  closed  with  grand  illumina- 
tions of  the  buildings  and  grounds  and  the  Eiffel 
Tower.  We  did  not  see  it,  though,  because  we 
all  went  that  night  to  the  other  end  of  the  city  to 
see  a  great  actress,  Sarah  Bernhardt. 

I  have  been  at  lunch  with  Edie  several  times 
lately,  and  on  Tuesday  I  went  with  her  by  train 
out  to  her  summer  home,  ten  miles  from  the 
city.  It  is  lovely  there  even  yet,  and  we  picked 
roses,  geraniums,  marguerites,  and  various  kinds 
of  flowers  out  in  the  garden  ;  they  are  in  my  room 
yet,  and  are  very  sweet  as  well  as  beautiful. 

Her  little  villa  is  situated  just  at  the  entrance 
to  an  old  chateau  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
built  by  Mansard,  and  is  the  first  Mansard  roof 
ever  built.  Now  the  park  all  about  the  cha- 
teau has  been  sold  and  converted  into  a  sub- 
urban town.  It  is  the  most  charming  spot  I  ever 
saw. 

Yesterday  and  to-day  we  have  been  making 


(3  ) 

a  tour  of  the  Seine,  which  runs  through  Paris. 
Yesterday  we  went  up  as  far  as  the  boat  goes,  and 
came  home  after  the  city  was  lighted.  You  can 
have  no  idea  what  a  fine  sight  it  was  !  It  seemed 
as  if  there  were  a  special  illumination,  but  it  was 
not  so.  The  day  was  clear  and  fresh,  and  we  got 
pretty  cold  before  arriving  at  our  station.  The 
boat  stations  are  quite  near  the  bridges,  of  which 
there  are  perhaps  thirty  or  more,  over  the  Seine ; 
massive  stone  structures  they  are,  generally,  with 
handsome  carved  figures  of  horses  and  famous 
men  upon  them,  with  occasionally  an  iron  one. 
The  two  trips  on  the  river  cost  our  party  of  three 
almost  fifty  cents.  Some  people  might  scorn  such 
a  cheap  excursion,  but  we  are  not  proud  if  we  are 
rich  and  handsome,  and  we  get  a  great  deal  more 
pleasure  out  of  our  way  of  seeing  things  than  the 
Queen  could  in  her  way. 

Yesterday  Mrs.  Fisher  began  to  take  lessons 
in  French,  and  I  begin  to-morrow.  They  tell  me 
my  accent  is  good,  and  I  would  make  a  good 
speaker  with  a  little  trouble.  However,  I  never 
expect  to  set  the  world  on  fire  with  my  flow  of 
foreign  languages. 

To-day  was  fine,  quite  warm  and  sunny  until 
about  four  o'clock,  when  it  suddenly  grew  gray 
and  chilly.  The  river  below  the  city  is  lovely, 
with  fields  and  trees,  gardens  and  parks,  and  it 
is  exceedingly  pretty,  even  now  when  the  foliage 
is  almost  gone. 

I  have  had  two  letters  from  each  of  my  Wil- 
liams, and  expect  another  to-morrow,  and  one 


(4) 

from  you,  too.  I  hope  not  to  be  disappointed. 
We  are  so  busy  all  the  time  with  various  things 
that  we  all  find  it  exceedingly  difficult  to  write 
letters,  and  as  I  have  a  good  many  correspondents 
my  spare  time  is  pretty  well  taken  up. 

Kate  and  her  mother  have  gone  by  appoint- 
ment to  see  a  music  teacher,  as  Kate  is  anxious 
to  take  a  few  lessons  while  here.  Madame  d'Har- 
menon,  our  hostess,  has  lent  us  her  piano,  and 
soon  we  will  be  very  gay  in  our  rooms.  Kate 
means  to  keep  the  piano  in  her  own  room,  as 
mine  we  use  for  our  sitting-room,  and  if  we  had 
any  visitors  she  could  not  practice  while  they  were 
here. 

It  will  not  seem  long  till  Christmas,  now  that 
we  are  settled  down  and  at  work.  I  wonder 
if  William  will  come  over  in  January.  I  have 
my  doubts,  but  still  he  may.  We  think  of  going 
down  to  Nice  in  January,  any  way,  and  perhaps 
to  Rome  and  Naples. 

Did  you  hear  of  Mr.  James  Turner's  death  ? 
You  remember  our  visiting  them  in  Hamilton 
just  before  you  came  to  Batavia.  He  was  taken 
ill  a  few  days  after  we  left  Hamilton,  and  died  on 
the  day  we  sailed.  Will's  first  letter  gave  us 
the  sad  news.  He  was  slightly  related  to  Alice 
through  the  Fishers.  They  always  called  each 
other  "  cousin." 

Now  I  must  close.  With  heaps  of  love  to  you 
and  all  the  family, 

Your  loving  daughter, 

'LlZZIE  McMlLLAN. 


(  5  ) 

85    RUE  LA  BOETIE, 

December  2,  1889. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

It  is  now  over  six  weeks  since  we  left  New 
York,  and  not  a  line  from  you  yet !  It  makes  me 
feel  very  anxious,  for,  as  I  have  written  four  let- 
ters to  you,  you  must  have  had  some  of  them. 
I  wrote  you  last  on  the  24th.  Of  course  that  one 
has  not  yet  reached  you. 

Last  week  we  were  quite  busy.  Went  to  the 
theatre  on  Monday  night  and  heard  Shake- 
speare's Hamlet.  It  was  very  fine,  and  we  all 
enjoyed  it  ever  so  much.  Wednesday  evening 
Edie  asked  us  to  dine  and  gave  us  a  splendid 
American  dinner.  Thursday,  Thanksgiving  Day, 
Madame  d'Harmenon  gave  her  boarders  a  genu- 
ine American  dinner,  —  turkey,  cranberry  sauce, 
celery,  olives,  pumpkin  pie,  and  lots  of  other 
things.  The  pie  was  good,  but  not  so  good  as 
Mary  makes.  I  would  like  one  of  hers  this 
minute.  Think  of  coming  to  Paris  to  get  two 
Thanksgiving  dinners,  —  for  Edie  celebrated  on 
Wednesday  so  that  we  could  have  ours  at  our 
own  house  on  Thursday.  Yesterday  we  went  to 
the  American  Chapel  in  the  morning,  and  a  party 
of  eight  went  in  the  afternoon  to  hear  Father 
Hyacinthe.  His  French  was  so  distinct  that  even 
I  understood  a  good  deal  of  his  sermon,  which 
was  a  splendid  one.  You  know  he  is  a  Catholic 
and  yet  not  a  Catholic.  He  has  our  faith,  and 
uses  the  Catholic  forms,  which  seems  very  odd  to 
me.  His  church  is  very  poor,  and  the  house  itself 


(  6) 

plain  with  a  primitive  simplicity,  and  he  is  so 
earnest  and  enthusiastic  in  what  he  says  that  often 
the  people  cheer  him,  when  he  is  preaching.  We 
enjoyed  it  extremely,  and  I  am  anxious  to  go 
again  some  time.  It  is  a  long  way  off,  and  on  a 
wet  day  would  be  a  very  disagreeable  trip.  For- 
tunately, yesterday  was  clear  and  cold  and  the 
walking  was  good.  We  had  to  walk  about  three 
quarters  of  a  mile  to  get  the  street  car  which  takes 
one  almost  to  his  church. 

To-day  is  real  wintry ;  we  would  think  it  a 
cold  day  even  in  Canada.  I  was  down  town  this 
morning  looking  for  letters  and  walked  home.  It 
was  hard  to  keep  warm  even  walking  fast.  I  had 
a  letter  from  William  on  Friday  telling  me  of  the 
trip  he  took  to  Colorado  to  see  the  Eddys,  and 
of  the  blizzards  he  encountered  all  the  time  he 
was  gone.  He  took  a  bad  cold,  of  course,  but 
was  better  when  he  wrote.  Will  is  getting  on 
well  at  school ;  the  reports  sent  home  are  very 
good.  I  had  a  letter  from  him  on  Saturday.  His 
idea  now  is  to  leave  school  and  travel  in  the  Holy 
Land  with  his  family  and  a  private  tutor.  What 
do  you  think  of  that  for  Young  America  ? 

What  terrible  fires  they  have  had  in  Lynn, 
Boston,  and  Minneapolis !  Were  any  of  the 
Chutes  relatives  burned  out  in  Lynn  ? 

We  are  going  out  this  evening  to  a  party,  if 
you  please.  Mrs.  Fisher  has  some  Buffalo  friends 
living  here  just  now,  and  of  course  I  am  invited 
because  I  happen  to  be  with  them.  But  I  am 
going,  all  the  same.  It  is  not  very  often  I  get  the 


(  7  ) 

chance  of  wearing  my  good  clothes  here,  so  am 
anxious  to  embrace  every  opportunity. 

Alice  and  Kate  send  a  great  deal  of  love  to  you. 
Give  mine  to  Charlie,  Mary,  the  Chutes  and 
Kingstons,  and  the  girls,  Eula  and  Florence.  I 
hope  to  hear  from  them  soon.  Hoping  to  hear 
from  you  very  soon,  with  much  love, 
Your  affectionate  daughter, 

LIZZIE  McMiLLAN. 

Address  Monroe  &  Co.,  Paris,  France. 


85  RUE  LA  BOETIE, 

January  8,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

Your  good  letter  written  on  the  23  d  came  to 
me  yesterday.  Did  you  know  it  was  Charlie's 
birthday  when  you  wrote  ?  I  hope  you  all  had 
a  nice  time  on  Christmas,  and  am  now  looking 
forward  to  your  next  letter  to  hear  all  about  it. 

A  few  days  ago  I  sent  you  a  picture  of  Eiffel 
Tower  showing  its  height  in  comparison  with  our 
buildings,  and  also  a  book  with  its  history.  Hope 
you  have  received  them  all  right.  This  week  we  are 
having  lovely  spring  weather,  mild,  sunny,  and 
delightful,  with  a  full  moon  at  night ;  but  we  ex- 
pect to  start  for  Nice  some  day  next  week,  all  the 
same,  and  don't  be  astonished  if  you  hear  of  us 
in  Egypt,  only  we  do  not  expect  to  go  there  at 
present. 

You  are  getting  very  giddy  going  to  the  Ladies' 
Circle.  Last  Thursday  night  we  all  went  to  the 
Circus  and  had  a  very  merry  time.  Two  of  the 


(  8  ) 

young  gentlemen  at  the  house  went  with  us. 
Saturday  evening  a  gentleman  and  his  wife,  French 
people  who  are  also  in  the  house,  asked  us  to  go 
to  the  theatre  with  them.  Of  course  we  accepted 
and  had  a  very  nice  time.  Sunday  I  went  to 
church  all  alone.  It  was  fine  when  I  started,  but 
raining  when  church  was  out,  and  I  had  no  um- 
brella, but  did  n't  mind  a  little  thing  like  that.  My 
clothes  are  for  wear,  more  than  for  show.  Mon- 
day afternoon  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  went  with  us 
to  two  auction  houses  and  then  to  an  old-clothes 
market.  It  was  great  fun.  Yesterday  afternoon 
we  went  over  to  the  Bon  Marche,  the  largest  dry 
goods  store  here,  covering  on  the  ground  twelve 
thousand  square  yards.  (You  can  put  it  into 
acres  yourself.)  They  have  eighty  large  vans  and 
two  hundred  horses  for  delivering  goods.  At 
3.30  every  day,  any  one  desiring  to  do  so  can  go 
over  the  whole  establishment,  which  is  five  stories 
high.  All  the  employes,  male  and  female,  live 
there,  eat,  sleep,  and  work.  We  saw  the  shipping 
offices  and  departments,  the  supply  stock,  the 
kitchens,  storerooms,  dining-room,  bedrooms, 
and  stables.  It  was  very  interesting  but  very 
fatiguing.  It  is  a  perfect  city  in  itself,  and  has  an 
army  of  people,  3600,  and  all  boarded  free. 

Last  night  Mr.  Smith  and  Edie  spent  the  even- 
ing with  us.  We  discussed  our  plans  for  the 
next  few  months,  and  they  may  manage  to  join 
us  somewhere  in  a  few  weeks.  If  they  could  it 
would  be  very  charming. 

I  had  my  last  French  lesson  Saturday,  and  Kate 


(9) 

is  taking  her  last  music  lesson  this  morning,  so 
it  begins  to  look  like  going  away,  especially  as  I 
began  to  pack  some  trunks  to  leave  here  at  the 
bankers'  while  we  are  traveling.  The  less  bag- 
gage we  have  for  some  time  now  the  better.  This 
afternoon  we  are  going  out  to  do  some  errands 
and  may  perhaps  take  a  drive  in  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne.  If  any  one  had  told  me  that  I  would 
be  in  Paris  from  the  28th  of  October  to  the  jth  of 
January  without  going  to  the  Park,  I  would  n't 
have  believed  it. 

Now  we  must  get  ready  to  go  out,  so  with  ever 
so  much  love  to  you  and  the  family  and  love  from 
the  Fishers, 

Your  affectionate  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

FLORENCE,  ITALY,  February  2,  1890. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

Your  good  letter  finished  January  ijth  reached 
me  on  the  Jist.  I  fully  intended  to  write  you 
several  days  ago,  but  we  were  traveling  and  sight- 
seeing so  fast  that  it  was  quite  impossible.  Know- 
ing that  we  are  all  safely  over  the  influenza,  I 
hope  you  will  not  be  worried  at  the  delay. 

The  next  day  after  writing  to  you  we  met  an 
old  friend  from  Boston  in  the  bank,  Mr.  Mack 
and  his  wife,  who  are  just  on  their  way  back  from 
Jerusalem,  Egypt,  Constantinople,  and  Athens. 
We  were  so  glad  to  see  them,  and  only  sorry 
they  were  not  going  in  our  direction.  Mrs.  Mack 
said  she  was  quite  willing  to  turn  around  and  go 


over  the  same  ground  again,  and  they  were  so 
very  enthusiastic  over  Athens  and  Constantinople 
that  it  has  made  us  more  determined  than  ever  to 
go  there. 

Saturday,  25th,  Alice,  Kate,  and  I  started  in  a 
comfortable  carriage  with  a  strong  handsome  pair 
of  horses,  with  bells  jingling  like  winter,  and  a  very 
swell  coachman,  for  the  famous  ride  over  the  Cor- 
niche  Road  to  Mentone  and  Monte  Carlo.  The 
road  leads  over  the  mountains  and  returns  by  the 
coast,  and  is  as  smooth  and  even  as  a  floor.  It 
was  a  splendid  day,  and  our  view  of  mountain 
ranges,  with  here  and  there  a  ridge  of  snow-capped 
ones,  was  grand,  and  the  sea  was  blue  as  the  sky. 
We  got  to  Mentone,  fifteen  miles,  at  1.30,  stayed 
there  two  hours,  had  lunch,  and  took  in  the  lovely 
town  nestled  down  on  the  edge  of  the  sea  and 
sheltered  by  mountains  in  the  background  ;  then 
at  3.30  started  on  the  drive  back.  We  stopped 
at  Monte  Carlo,  the  noted  gambling  resort,  only 
about  three  quarters  of  an  hour,  just  long  enough 
to  go  into  the  Casino  and  watch  the  people  at  the 
gaming  tables  for  a  little  while.  We  were  curi- 
ous to  see  what  it  looked  like.  There  were  eight 
large  tables  with  about  twenty  persons  seated 
at  each,  and  crowds  of  people  around  each  table 
watching  the  playing  and  the  faces.  Money  was 
thrown  on  in  a  seemingly  reckless  manner,  and 
generally  raked  in  by  the  croupiers,  or  men  who 
run  the  tables.  It  was  easy  to  see  how  the  bank 
would  generally  win,  when  there  were  thirty-five 
chances  to  one  for  it.  Some  of  the  people  there 


I  will  remember  for  a  long  time.  They  had  such 
an  anxious  look,  and  would  flush  when  they  lost 
and  look  so  excited  when  they  won.  It  did  seem 
very  strange  that  sensible  men  and  women  could 
indulge  in  such  a  foolish  and  hazardous  business. 
We  were  soon  on  the  way  again  and  reached  home 
by  moonlight,  having  had  a  most  enjoyable  day. 

On  Monday,  27th,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mack,  Mrs. 
Fisher  and  I  went  up  in  the  balloon,  1200  feet. 
To  be  sure  it  was  captive,  but  after  all  I  have 
been  up  in  a  balloon.  It  was  very  pleasant,  and 
we  were  neither  dizzy  nor  frightened,  and  such  a 
wonderful  view  we  had  of  the  world  below  and 
around  us  !  We  were  far  above  the  near  moun- 
tains, and  looked  away  off  to  the  grandest  ones  I 
ever  expect  to  see.  We  were  very  fortunate  in 
having  a  perfect  day  and  no  wind.  At  the  height 
of  1 200  feet  we  were  perfectly  still,  and  the  air 
was  much  warmer  than  on  the  ground.  Kate 
would  not  go,  feeling  timid  about  it,  and  did  not 
seem  to  be  at  all  envious  when  we  dilated  upon 
the  great  pleasure  to  be  derived  from  balloon 
ascensions.  It  is  the  same  balloon  which  was  in 
Paris,  and  I  am  glad  we  did  not  make  the  ascen- 
sion there,  for  at  Nice  the  views  were  so  much 
finer. 

Tuesday  morning  we  left  Nice  with  regret,  for 
it  was  so  lovely  there  and  the  climate  was  deli- 
cious. We  came  to  Monte  Carlo  and  spent  a  day, 
as  we  were  reluctant  to  leave  the  Riviera,  as  the 
coast  from  Cannes  to  Genoa  is  called,  without 
seeing  the  principality  of  Monaco.  This  is  a 


promontory  jutting  out  into  the  sea,  and  on  it  are 
four  towns,  Monte  Carlo,  Monaco,  and  two  others. 
The  Prince  of  Monaco  was  married  a  few  weeks 
ago,  and  on  our  way  up  to  see  the  Castle  we  met 
him  and  his  wife  in  their  carriage  coming  down  the 
hill.  We  spent  the  afternoon  in  seeing  the  old 
town  and  the  palace,  and  the  evening  at  the  Casino 
at  Monte  Carlo,  watching  the  playing  and  the 
crowds  of  people  who  come  and  go  all  the  time. 
Part  of  the  revenue  of  the  bank  is  the  income  of 
the  Prince  of  Monaco,  but  his  young  wife  is  very 
much  opposed  to  gambling  and  is  trying  to  get 
him  to  put  a  stop  to  it.  I  hope  she  will  succeed, 
and  admire  her  for  her  evident  strength  of  char- 
acter. 

Wednesday  A.  M.  we  left  for  Genoa  and  were 
all  day  running  along  by  the  shores  of  the  Medi- 
terranean, in  and  out  of  tunnels  and  enjoying  the 
mountain  scenery  as  well  as  the  groves  of  oranges, 
lemons,  and  olive  trees  in  the  more  sheltered  spots. 
We  spent  that  night  at  Genoa,  visited  several 
churches,  and  reached  Pisa  Thursday  evening. 
There  are  166  tunnels  between  Nice  and  Pisa. 
We  counted  them,  so  we  know  it.  In  Nice  we 
were  in  the  old  church  where  Martin  Luther 
preached  in  1510.  Friday  morning,  the  Jist, 
I  climbed  to  the  top  of  the  famous  leaning  Tower 
of  Pisa,  296  steps,  and  had  a  magnificent  view  of 
the  whole  valley  of  the  Arno  River  and  many 
ranges  of  mountains,  some  of  which  were  covered 
with  snow.  It  was  a  beautiful  day.  Alice  and 
Kate  did  not  go  up  all  the  way  because  the  lean 


(  13  ) 

made  them  dizzy.  We  came  to  Florence  that 
same  day,  and  are  nicely  settled  at  the  best  pen- 
sion in  the  city.  Had  delicious  mince  pie  for 
lunch  to-day.  Kate  and  I  went  to  the  cathedral 
this  A.  M.  to  hear  the  music. 

I  received  twelve  letters  on  arriving  here,  and 
have  plenty  of  work  ahead  to  answer  them.  Wil- 
liam is  well  and  so  is  Will,  or  were  so  when  they 
wrote.  I  must  be  content  now  that  no  news  is 
good  news,  between  letters. 

Thanks  for  your  good  long  letter.  Tell  Aunt 
Harriet  I  always  mean  what  I  say,  when  I  say 
sweet  things.  If  I  do  not  mean  them  I  cannot 
say  them,  and  I  think  she  is  lovely. 

Love  to  all ;  hope  you  can  read  this. 
Lovingly, 

LIZZIE  McM. 

Dear  Father,  I  hope  it  is  not  too  late  to  con- 
gratulate you  on  having  attained  your  seventy- 
seventh  year.  I  meant  to  speak  of  it  in  my  last 
letter,  and  then  it  slipped  my  mind  till  the  letter 
was  sealed.  Not  many  men  of  your  age  are  so 
strong,  vigorous,  and  upright  in  every  way,  and 
I  am  justly  proud  of  my  dear  father. 

FLORENCE,  ITALY,  February  9,  1890. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

Your  last  letter  of  the  2Oth  reached  me  on  the 
jd,  making  very  good  time  indeed. 

This  has  been  a  very  strange  winter  every- 
where, cold  where  it  is  usually  warm,  and  warm 
where  it  ought  to  be  cold,  and  then  the  ocean  has 


(  H) 

been  so  stirred  up.  We  never  hear  of  a  comfort- 
able trip  across  the  water  now.  They  have  had 
very  rough  weather  all  winter,  and  the  steamers 
seem  to  have  worse  and  worse  passages  all  the 
time.  I  am  real  glad  William  decided  not  to  come 
over  till  summer,  for  he  would  probably  have 
suffered  very  much.  Poor  fellow !  he  has  had 
"  la  grippe  "  too,  and  said  he  had  a  pretty  hard 
time  for  a  day  or  two.  I  hope  he  has  quite  re- 
covered before  now,  and  am  very  anxious  to  get 
his  next  letter. 

Last  Monday  Kate  and  I  climbed  the  cathe- 
dral bell  tower  for  the  view.  There  were  428 
steps,  but  the  view  repaid  us  amply  for  the  trouble 
taken.  We  have  visited  the  two  famous  pic- 
ture galleries  here,  where  are  so  many  paintings 
by  Raphael,  Titian,  Rubens,  and  many  of  the 
great  masters  of  olden  times.  We  enjoyed  them 
very  much,  and  especially  when  we  remembered 
the  hundreds  of  years  which  have  passed  since 
they  were  painted,  and  how  beautifully  they  are 
preserved.  We  have  seen  the  inside  and  princi- 
pal sights  of  at  least  ten  churches  here.  In  one 
are  the  carved  marble  tombs  of  Michael  Angelo, 
Dante,  and  Galileo,  in  others  are  the  famous  paint- 
ings or  sculptures  of  some  great  man,  the  ashes 
of  saints,  etc.,  all  very  interesting.  Yesterday  we 
were  in  the  house  where  Dante  was  born,  and  in 
the  monastery  where  Savonarola  lived.  We  are 
actually  living  in  an  old  palace  where  Pauline 
Bonaparte  lived  after  her  marriage,  and  just 
around  the  corner  is  the  old  prison  where  Savon- 


arola  and  other  political  prisoners  were  confined  ; 
and  where  they  were  burned  is  only  a  few  squares 
from  here.  We  walked  over  the  very  spot  yester- 
day. A  person  needs  to  be  pretty  well  up  in  the 
history  of  those  times  to  properly  appreciate  the 
place.  We  are  on  historic  ground  and  shudder 
to  think  of  the  dreadful  things  which  have  hap- 
pened right  here  in  behalf  of  principle  and  re- 
ligion. 

Last  Wednesday  we  spent  with  a  countess.  I 
would  give  her  name,  only  you  could  not  pro- 
nounce it  if  I  did,  but  she  is  a  very  nice  old  lady 
and  has  been  very  kind  to  us.  They  say  she  is 
over  eighty,  and  she  still  plays  finely  on  the  piano, 
with  much  expression  and  with  great  ease.  Her 
fingers  are  as  supple  as  a  young  girl's,  and  her 
mind  as  clear  as  a  bell.  She  wants  us  to  come  and 
spend  another  evening  with  her  before  we  leave, 
and  perhaps  we  will. 

The  influenza  has  been  very  bad  here  but  is 
about  over  now.  The  countess  told  us  that  one 
day  the  bread  did  not  come,  and  it  turned  out 
that  all  in  the  bakery  had  "  la  grippe  "  and  there 
was  no  one  to  carry  the  bread  around.  Did  I  tell 
you  that  our  street  is  only  about  eight  feet  wide 
at  its  entrance,  and  about  twelve  where  we  are  ? 
We  amuse  ourselves  when  out  by  going  through 
the  narrowest  streets  we  can  find  ;  very  often  they 
are  so  narrow  that  two  carriages  could  not  pass, 
and  in  looking  straight  up,  the  gabled  and  pro- 
jecting roofs  look  very  odd  and  picturesque.  I 
believe  a  person  could  easily  jump  from  one  roof 


(  16  ) 

across  the  street  to  another  in  many  places.  To  be 
sure  there  are  plenty  of  wide,  handsome  streets 
in  the  new  town,  but  I  would  much  rather  stay 
here  in  the  old  town.  It  is  so  picturesque  and 
quaint  and  has  so  many  old  associations. 

I  had  twenty-three  letters  last  week  and  wrote 
twenty.  It  will  soon  become  necessary  for  me  to 
have  a  secretary  or  a  printing-press  if  this  thing 
keeps  on.  Think  of  all  those  letters  written  in  one 
week,  besides  all  the  sight-seeing  we  have  done, 
and  the  average  of  steps  climbed  each  day  is  about 
500.  A  person  has  to  work  hard  to  see  Europe ; 
there  is  so  much  to  see  that  what  one  actually  does 
is  only  a  drop  in  the  bucket,  after  all.  I  am 
always  impressed  with  the  newness  of  America, 
after  seeing  these  old  churches,  castles,  and  his- 
toric buildings  which  are  to  be  found  in  every 
town  over  here,  however  small  the  place  may  be. 
A  great  many  Italian  towns  are  perched  on  the 
tops  of  high  hills,  all  in  a  bunch,  and  were  at  first 
built  in  that  way  into  walls  as  a  means  of  defense, 
and  still  are  used  as  dwellings,  just  because  they 
are  not  destroyed.  Houses  have  a  way  of  lasting, 
over  here  ;  they  are  built  to  last,  and  no  one  ever 
hears  of  one  of  these  massive  stone  structures 
tumbling  down,  as  is  often  the  case  in  our  cities 
at  home. 

Well,  it  is  nearly  lunch  time  and  I  feel  quite 
ready  for  it.  We  did  not  go  out  this  morning, 
and  I  have  written  letters  ever  since  breakfast, 
while  Alice  and  Kate  have  been  reading.  I  will 
not  throw  any  stones  at  your  glass  house  if 


(  '7  ) 

you  will  not  throw  any  at  this  letter.  I  am  quite 
ashamed  of  it,  and  doubt  if  you  can  read  it  at  all. 
We  all  send  a  great  deal  of  love  to  you,  my 
dear.  Give  mine  to  Charlie  and  Mary  and  the 
friends.  Looking  forward  to  your  next  good  let- 
ter, as  ever,  dear  father, 

Your  affectionate  daughter, 

LlZZIE  McMlLLAN. 
ROME,  February  23,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

Yours  of  the  jd  reached  me  on  the  soth  and 
we  were  all  glad  to  hear  that  your  household 
had  escaped  "  la  grippe  "  up  to  that  time.  I  am 
glad  to  know  that  Mr.  Sowerby  is  not  going  to 
leave  you,  and  that  Eula  plays  so  acceptably.  I 
imagine  it  will  be  hard  work  for  her  to  attend  to 
business  week  days  and  Sundays  too,  and  fear  her 
health  will  suffer  if  she  is  not  very  careful  of  her- 
self. Alice  and  Kate  received  your  message  with 
much  pleasure,  and  send  a  great  deal  of  love  to 
you  in  return.  We  are  actually  staying  at  home 
this  morning,  and  it  seems  very  pleasant  to  sit 
down  quietly  and  write  to  my  friends,  instead  of 
rushing  off  to  see  something  thousands  of  years 
old.  We  have  been  here  eight  days,  have  visited 
twenty  churches,  each  one  having  some  special 
attraction  of  its  own  in  the  shape  of  a  fine  paint- 
ing or  statue  by  Raphael,  by  being  the  burial 
place  of  some  saint  or  great  man,  by  its  superb 
decorations,  or  by  some  wonderful  story  about  its 
origin.  Did  I  tell  you  that  I  have  been  in  the 


(  18  ) 

prison  where  Paul  was  confined,  and  into  the  very 
dungeon  itself? 

Last  Tuesday  we  went  to  one  of  the  Catacombs, 
forty  feet  underground,  excavated  and  built  as 
a  burial  place  by  the  early  Christians,  and  after- 
wards used  by  them  as  a  refuge  from  persecution. 
There  were  narrow  passages  in  every  direction, 
with  recesses  along  both  sides  where  the  tombs 
formerly  were,  but  now  nothing  is  left  but  a  heap 
of  bones  and  dust,  which  were  once  living  men 
and  women ;  even  marble  slabs  with  the  inscrip- 
tions are  mostly  gone  to  help  in  the  construction 
of  some  edifice  in  later  times.  We  saw  several 
skeletons,  looking  ghastly  in  the  dim  light  of  our 
wax  tapers.  It  was  a  weird  sight;  the  black  sur- 
roundings, the  little  procession,  each  with  his  or 
her  lighted  taper,  which  looked  like  little  stars 
twinkling,  as  we  followed  the  guide  as  closely  as 
possible,  well  knowing  that  it  would  be  no  joke 
to  be  lost  there,  and  I,  for  one,  was  not  sorry  to 
see  the  first  faint  glimmer  of  the  light  of  day  once 
more.  I  had  always  wanted  to  see  a  catacomb, 
and  now  my  curiosity  is  satisfied.  There  are  quite 
a  number  of  others,  but  I  do  not  care  to  go  to  any 
more  when  there  are  so  many  beautiful  and  inter- 
esting things  to  see  above  ground. 

We  have  had  superb  weather  ever  since  com- 
ing to  Rome,  and  this  past  week  has  been  like 
early  summer,  with  a  sky  as  blue  as  only  an  Ital- 
ian sky  ever  is.  Wednesday  we  went  by  train  out 
to  a  town  called  Tivoli,  about  eighteen  miles  from 
Rome.  It  has  about  8000  inhabitants,  and  they 


(  19) 

say  is  older  than  Rome  itself.  The  chief  at- 
traction there  is  the  beautiful  ravine,  and  several 
lovely  cascades.  The  scenery  is  indeed  charming. 
We  descended  by  paths  to  the  bottom  of  the 
ravine  to  see  the  cascades  in  every  condition  and 
from  every  point  of  view,  and  at  the  bottom 
found  a  large  stone  grotto  of  natural  formation 
under  which  the  waterfall  rushed  with  a  mighty 
roar.  It  was  grand.  About  halfway  up  we  found 
a  sort  of  natural  arbor,  and  some  stone  seats 
placed  there  for  the  comfort  of  visitors,  and  there 
we  took  our  lunch,  under  the  blue  sky  and  the 
shade  of  some  olive  trees,  quite  shut  in  by  the 
high  hills,  without  any  way  of  egress,  to  all  ap- 
pearance. Knowing  there  was  no  place  for  lunch- 
eon, we  had  taken  it  with  us,  and  the  guide  car- 
ried it  all,  and  our  wraps  for  us.  Afterwards 
we  drove  for  about  half  an  hour  among  ancient 
gnarled  and  twisted  olive  trees  of  immense  size, 
to  Hadrian's  villa.  This  villa  of  Emperor  Ha- 
drian must  have  been  very  magnificent  in  its  day, 
for  the  ruins  are  of  wonderful  length  and  breadth 
and  show  many  signs  of  former  splendor  in 
remains  of  fine  marble  columns,  elaborate  and 
beautiful  mosaic  floors,  etc.  We  grew  very  weary 
before  we  had  explored  a  quarter  of  the  place,  and 
were  glad  to  get  into  the  ancient  vehicle,  which 
might  almost  have  been  Hadrian's  family  carriage, 
and  turn  our  faces  homeward. 

Well,  Thursday,  Kate  and  I  climbed  the  dome 
of  St.  Peter's.  Kate  went  as  far  as  the  last  railing 
where  one  has  an  outside  view  of  the  city  and  its 


(    20) 

surroundings  for  many  miles,  and  I  went  on,  up 
into  the  ball  above  the  dome,  where  there  is  room 
for  twelve  persons  to  stand  around,  or  rather  to 
lean  against  the  sides  of  the  ball,  for  one  cannot 
stand  erect  up  there.  The  last  twenty  feet  was 
by  means  of  an  iron  ladder  straight  up,  and  the 
hole  was  none  too  large,  even  for  me.  It  was  a 
curious  sensation  one  had  up  there,  so  far  above 
the  world,  and  I  soon  had  an  inclination  to  reach 
a  more  solid  foundation,  and  so  was  the  first  one 
to  go  down  the  ladder  in  true  sailor  fashion. 
Alice  waited  for  us  in  the  church,  and  on  coming 
to  the  outer  air  again  we  concluded  to  go  to  the 
Mosaic  Manufactory,  which  is  in  the  Vatican 
building.  You  know  the  Pope  lives  in  the  Vati- 
can, but  as  there  are  n,ooo  rooms  in  the  build- 
ings, there  ought  to  be  plenty  of  room  for  him 
and  for  a  great  many  other  people  and  things  be- 
sides. The  mosaic  pictures  are  made  sometimes 
of  glass  and  sometimes  of  different  stones,  some 
of  them  so  small  that  you  would  wonder  how  ever 
they  could  be  made  to  resemble  persons  or  scenes, 
and  yet  the  most  perfect  and  beautiful  portraits 
and  landscapes  are  made,  which  actually  seem  as 
if  they  might  last  forever.  It  takes  from  ten  to 
fifteen  years  to  make  a  large  picture,  and  must 
require  great  patience  and  skill.  That  day  I 
climbed  956  steps  and  was  pretty  tired  at  night. 
Friday  I  went  to  the  Coliseum  and  climbed  to  the 
top  of  it.  It  was  built,  or  rather  completed,  in 
80  A.  D.,  and  was  the  largest  theatre  in  the  world, 
having  seating  capacity  for  87,000  people.  It  is 


a  most  imposing  structure  still,  in  ruins  as  it  is. 
In  248  Emperor  Philip  celebrated  the  loooth  an- 
niversary of  the  foundation  of  Rome.  It  has  been 
a  fortress  and  a  saltpetre  manufactory,  but  in  the 
present  day  is  preserved  as  one  of  the  great  won- 
ders of  old  Rome.  It  stands  as  a  monument  of 
departed  glory. 

Yesterday  we  visited  the  villa  and  grounds  of 
one  of  the  old  families  of  Rome.  Saw  a  magnifi- 
cent museum  of  statues  and  frescoes,  and  picked 
flowers  in  the  grounds, — violets  and  wild  flowers. 
These  are  some  of  the  violets,  and  I  hope  the 
sweet  perfume  will  last  till  this  letter  reaches  you. 
We  saw  the  cemetery  of  the  Capuchin  Monks 
yesterday,  under  the  old  church  of  the  same  name. 
The  place  is  ornamented  with  the  bones  of  de- 
parted monks,  and  there  are  quite  a  number  of 
skeletons,  dressed  as  they  were  in  life,  with  wisps 
of  hair  still  remaining  on  the  chins  of  some  of 
them,  and  looking  hideous  enough.  There  are 
the  bones  of  about  4000  departed  monks  there. 

Now  I  must  close.  Love  to  all,  and  oceans 
for  my  dear  father. 

Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 
ROME,  March  I,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

I  have  not  heard  from  you  since  the  2Oth,  but 
will  probably  have  a  letter  on  Monday,  as  we 
generally  get  a  mail  then.  March  has  commenced 
as  a  lion,  cold  and  rainy,  but  as  it  is  the  first  rainy 


day  we  have  had  for  a  month,  we  are  not  inclined 
to  grumble  at  it.  We  have  had  lovely  weather 
ever  since  leaving  Paris,  with  the  exception  of  one 
day,  and  then  we  were  all  day  on  the  train  and 
did  not  mind  it  at  all.  Last  Sunday  evening  we 
were  caught  in  a  shower,  but  it  did  not  last  long 
and  did  us  no  harm.  Sunday  night  we  had  a 
slight  earthquake.  Kate  and  I  felt  it,  as  we  were 
in  bed,  but  Alice,  who  was  standing  up,  knew 
nothing  of  it,  so  you  can  believe  it  was  not  very 
severe.  Monday  morning  we  visited  the  United 
States  Minister  in  Rome,  to  get  some  passports 
for  Athens  and  Constantinople,  and  had  a  good 
deal  of  fun  over  it,  as  we  had  to  be  described,  and 
when  that  was  done  we  found  that  we  were  quite 
different  looking  people  from  what  we  had  al- 
ways supposed. 

We  have  seen  seven  palaces  this  week,  six 
churches  of  distinction,  from  the  relics  of  some 
saint  being  there,  or  some  miracle  having  been 
performed  there,  or  some  other  wonderful  thing 
having  happened  on  the  spot  where  the  church 
stands ;  several  picture  galleries,  and  one  castle. 
One  morning  we  spent  among  the  grand  and  im- 
mense ruins  of  the  Palace  of  the  Caesars,  on 
Palatine  Hill,  one  of  the  seven  hills  on  which 
Rome  is  built,  and  always  occupied  by  royalty. 
As  each  emperor  always  wanted  to  tear  down  as 
much  as  he  could  and  build  a  palace  for  himself 
on  top  of  the  ruins  of  his  predecessor,  there  is 
tier  upon  tier  of  massive  stone  and  brick  walls, 
away  down  under  the  earth  ever  so  far,  and  these 


ruins  all  proclaim  ancient  splendor  in  the  remains 
of  frescoes  on  the  walls,  mosaic  floors,  and  pieces 
of  marble  pillars,  etc.  We  spent  three  hours 
wandering  about  there,  up  and  down,  sometimes 
almost  in  the  dark,  where  the  paths  led  us  under 
these  great  walls,  and  then  on  top  of  the  whole 
mass,  to  get  a  grand  view  of  Rome.  One  day 
we  drove  out  of  the  gates  to  see  St.  Paul's 
Church,  the  handsomest  one  I  ever  saw.  It 
has,  inside,  eighty  immense  marble  and  gran- 
ite columns  ;  the  floor  is  of  polished  marble  in 
two  colors  and  is  like  a  mirror,  and  the  whole 
church  is  covered  with  beautiful  marbles  in  vari- 
ous colors.  They  say  it  is  built  over  the  place 
where  St.  Paul  was  beheaded.  I  wonder  if  St. 
Paul  would  not  have  been  more  honored  and 
pleased  to  have  had  the  enormous  sum  of  money 
which  was  expended  in  building  this  church  used 
in  elevating  and  succoring  the  poor  and  needy ! 

Yesterday  morning  we  started  for  the  Vatican 
to  see  the  Sculpture  Gallery,  and  our  horse  fell 
down  on  the  way  and  broke  one  of  the  shafts  of 
the  carriage,  so  we  had  to  get  out  and  take  an- 
other. The  street  was  slippery,  and  that  is  a 
sign,  they  say,  of  rain,  so  to-day  we  have  the 
rain.  In  the  afternoon  we  went  to  the  Castle  of 
St.  Angelo,  which  was  built  by  Hadrian  as  a  tomb 
for  himself  and  his  successors.  It  was  afterwards 
used  for  a  fortress  and  for  a  prison.  Beatrice 
Cenci  was  confined  there,  and  we  were  in  the 
dungeon  where  they  put  her ;  bare  stone  walls, 
dark  passages  leading  to  it,  and  the  entrance  so 


low  that  we  had  almost  to  crawl  through  it.  We 
have  been  to  several  churches  this  morning,  and 
two  picture  galleries,  and  this  afternoon  are 
going  to  return  the  calls  of  the  United  States 
Minister  and  Consul  General.  After  that  we 
are  going  out  to  afternoon  tea  with  some  friends 
of  Alice's  from  Buffalo,  who  are  here  in  Rome 
for  the  winter.  Next  Friday  we  go  to  Naples, 
and  expect  to  spend  about  three  weeks  in  that 
neighborhood  before  going  to  Athens. 

William  writes  that  he  wants  us  to  go  to  all 
these  places  while  we  are  here,  and  says  he  and 
Will  expect  to  sail  on  the  City  of  Paris  June 
1 8,  for  Liverpool,  where  we  are  to  join  them  for 
our  trip  to  Norway.  You  must  read  up  in 
H.  M.  Field  all  about  Athens  and  Constanti- 
nople, and  then  you  can  follow  our  wanderings 
very  well. 

Give  my  love  to  the  family  and  friends  ;  Alice 
and  Kate  join  me  in  a  great  deal  of  love  to  you. 
I  am  quite  anxious  for  your  next  letter* 
Your  loving  daughter, 

LIZZIE  McMiLLAN. 

CASTELLAMARE,  ITALY,  March  10,  1890. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

Your  fifteenth  letter,  dated  February  17, 
reached  me  here  on  the  8th  and  gave  me  much 
pleasure.  I  am  glad  you  like  my  letters  and 
find  them  interesting,  for  sometimes  I  feel  quite 
ashamed  of  them,  and  think  you  must  feel  the 
same.  I  wrote  you  on  the  5th  from  Rome ; 


( 2*) 

after  that  we  only  saw  the  Royal  Palace,  the  state 
apartments,  as  usual,  but  they  were  unusually 
handsome,  and  we  greatly  enjoyed  seeing  them. 
That  was  on  Thursday,  and  afterwards  we  had  a 
drive  on  Pincian  Hill,  the  fashionable  resort  for 
Romans  and  strangers  on  pleasant  afternoons.  It 
was  a  perfect  day,  the  sky  as  blue  as  blue  could 
be,  without  a  single  cloud,  and  the  sun  bright 
and  the  air  fresh  and  invigorating.  By  five  o'clock 
it  was  cold  enough  to  make  us  wish  to  go  home 
and  sit  by  the  fire.  That  evening  after  dinner  we 
made  up  a  party  of  six  ladies,  got  two  carriages, 
and  went  out  to  see  Rome  by  the  light  of  the 
full  moon.  We  drove  to  the  Coliseum,  which 
stood  up  majestically  against  the  sky,  with  the 
moon  flooding  the  interior  of  the  immense  build- 
ing with  light,  and  casting  dense  and  mysterious 
shadows  on  the  massive  stone  walls.  It  was  much 
more  grand  and  impressive  by  night  than  by  day, 
and  the  picture  will  long  linger  in  my  memory. 
There  is  a  beautiful,  immense  fountain  in  Rome 
called  Trevi  Fountain,  of  which  it  is  said  that  a 
person  going  there  and  drinking  of  its  waters,  and 
then  casting  in  a  penny,  will  be  sure  of  seeing 
Rome  again.  So  we  all  did  as  we  were  told 
and  had  a  good  deal  of  fun  over  it.  Then  we 
drove  past  the  vast  ruins  of  the  Roman  Forum, 
with  its  marble  remains  of  old  temples,  consul 
chambers,  etc.,  which  looked  not  unlike  an  old 
graveyard  in  the  moonlight,  and  last  of  all  to 
St.  Peter's.  The  air  was  very  bracing,  but  we 
were  well  wrapped  up  and  enjoyed  the  expedition 


(  26  ) 

immensely.  It  was  ten  o'clock  when  we  reached 
home,  and  I  had  still  a  letter  to  write,  and  my 
bag  to  pack. 

Friday  morning,  yth,  at  7.45,  we  left  Rome  and 
reached  this  quaint,  dirty  old  town  at  four  p.  M. 
We  passed  through  Naples,  but  having  made  up 
our  minds  not  to  stay  there  at  all,  we  only  re- 
mained long  enough  to  change  cars.  Many 
people  had  told  us  how  disagreeable  Naples  has 
become  to  strangers  in  many  ways,  so  we  thought 
it  wise  to  profit  by  the  experience  of  others  and 
avoid  it.  We  are  not  in  the  town  of  Castella- 
mare,but  above  it  on  the  mountain  side,  where  we 
have  fine  views  in  every  direction,  and  are  near  most 
of  the  places  we  want  to  see,  namely,  Vesuvius, 
Pompeii,  Sorrento,  and  Capri.  We  have  fallen  in 
with  some  very  pleasant  English  people,  and  are 
planning  to  take  a  little  trip  to  these  places  in 
their  company.  We  will  be  here  till  Friday,  and 
expect  then  to  start  off  by  carriage  first,  which  is 
a  delightful  way  of  seeing  the  country,  which  is 
very  picturesque.  The  mountains  are  covered 
with  snow ;  even  Vesuvius  is  white.  The  hill- 
sides are  covered  with  forests,  and  the  lower  lev- 
els have  orange  and  olive  orchards.  The  garden 
of  our  hotel  is  full  of  orange  trees  in  full  fruit, 
and  the  oranges  are  picked  fresh  just  before  lunch 
and  dinner.  On  our  way  here  we  saw  armies  of 
men  and  women  spading  the  fields ;  think  of 
that ;  and  the  wheat  in  some  places  was  six  inches 
high.  We  were  going  to  Vesuvius  to-day,  but  it 


has    been  a  rainy  day,  so  we  are  quietly  staying 
in  the  house,  reading  and  writing  letters. 

There  are  many  English  people  here,  some  of 
them  very  pleasant  indeed.  The  hotel  is  well 
kept  and  the  table  excellent.  We  have  soup, 
fish,  beef,  chicken,  and  salad  and  ice  cream  always, 
and  many  other  more  dainty  dishes,  and  plenty 
of  vegetables  well  cooked  and  seasoned,  oranges, 
apples,  nuts,  and  figs,  so  there  does  not  seem  to 
be  any  immediate  prospect  of  our  starving.  Our 
letters  have  followed  us  promptly,  so  far,  and  I 
hope  will  never  fail  to  do  so.  William  advises 
us  to  go  to  Sicily  as  long  as  we  are  going  to 
Athens,  and  perhaps  we  may.  But  we  will  be  in 
this  neighborhood  until  the  last  of  this  month. 

Alice  and  Kate  are  well,  and  send  their  love. 
It  seems  very  refreshing  to  be  able  to  sit  down 
quietly  and  not  feel  that  we  are  neglecting  our 
opportunities.  If  we  were  in  Rome  we  would 
feel  that  we  must  go  to  some  palace  or  church, 
even  if  it  did  rain,  but  here  there  is  nothing  of 
that  kind  to  do,  and  our  sight-seeing  after  this, 
for  some  time,  will  be  simply  using  our  eyes  as 
we  drive  over  the  country. 

Am  so  glad  you  escaped  "  la  grippe,"  you 
and  your  household.  Tell  Grace  and  Nora  they 
must  not  abuse  my  dear  father,  or  I  will  punish 
them  well  when  I  get  home.  Love  to  Charlie, 
Mary,  and  oceans  to  my  dear  father. 
Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE  McMlLLAN. 


(  28  ) 

LA  CAVA,  ITALY,  March  16,  1890. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

Yours  of  the  24th,  I  think,  reached  me  safely 
a  few  days  ago.  We  were  very  much  interested 
in  it.  We  have  had  a  great  week  of  sight-seeing, 
but  did  not  commence  on  Monday  because  it  was 
a  rainy  day.  Tuesday  morning  we  drove  over 
to  the  ruins  of  Pompeii.  It  was  an  ancient  city 
of  about  30,000  inhabitants,  situated  at  the  foot 
of  Vesuvius,  and  was  totally  destroyed  by  an 
eruption,  in  79,  and  continued  buried  until  1748, 
when  the  work  of  excavation  was  begun.  Now, 
almost  the  entire  city  has  been  unearthed  from 
the  masses  of  ashes  and  lava  which  concealed  it 
for  nearly  1700  years.  Many  petrified  bodies 
of  men,  women,  and  children,  who,  in  trying  to 
escape,  were  caught  by  the  storm  of  fire,  are  pre- 
served in  the  museum,  and  all  sorts  of  utensils, 
statues,  and  even  bread  and  eggs  are  to  be  seen 
in  the  museum  in  Naples.  The  streets  were 
only  wide  enough  for  one  vehicle,  and  the  an- 
cient ruts  and  stepping  stones  are  quite  perfect. 
The  people  of  Pompeii  were  very  fond  of  mosaic 
floors  and  frescoed  walls,  and  a  good  many  are 
still  to  be  seen  in  a  very  good  state  of  preserva- 
tion. Many  of  the  more  perfect  ones  have  been 
removed  to  Naples,  for  exhibition  in  the  mu- 
seum. One  might  well  call  Pompeii  the  City  of 
the  Dead,  and  it  has  rather  a  depressing  effect  on 
the  spirits  to  wander  among  those  tangible  rem- 
nants of  former  grandeur.  We  had  a  delightful 
day  for  the  trip,  as  it  was  neither  too  warm  nor 


too  cold,  and  the  sea,  sky,  and  mountains  were 
beautiful  in  the  bright  sunlight. 

Wednesday,  Kate  and  I  went  to  Vesuvius.  It 
was  three  and  a  half  hours  by  carriage,  but  I 
have  not  been  able  to  find  out  the  distance  in 
miles,  from  Castellamare.  They  reckon  mostly  by 
hours,  here.  We  had  a  cute  little  carriage,  a  good 
driver,  and  a  pair  of  very  lively  mountain  ponies, 
which  flew  over  the  ground  in  fine  style.  The 
last  mile  and  a  half  was  up  the  mountain,  and 
was  very  interesting,  as  the  whole  side  of  the 
mountain  was  covered  with  immense  lava  beds, 
probably  just  as  they  rolled  out  of  the  crater  at 
the  destruction  of  Pompeii.  Such  coiled  and 
twisted  masses,  reminding  one  of  writhing  ser- 
pents, and  quite  black  !  There  was  still  some 
snow  in  the  hollows  and  shady  spots,  some  of  it 
more  than  a  foot  deep,  and  to  have  snow  in  this 
region  at  all  is  quite  unusual,  and  on  Vesuvius 
quite  wonderful.  We  finally  reached  the  station 
of  the  inclined  plane  railroad  leading  to  the  top. 
The  car  is  open  at  the  sides  and  has  a  roof;  holds 
ten  people,  and  one  car  goes  up  as  the  other 
comes  down.  It  seemed  almost  as  uncertain  as 
going  up  in  a  balloon,  and  we  were  not  sorry 
when  we  were  down  safely.  There  was  quite  a 
little  climb  to  the  summit  after  leaving  the  car, 
but  there  were  guides  to  assist  us,  and  keep  us 
from  slipping  back  on  the  ashes  and  fragments 
of  lava.  The  smoke  issued  from  crevices  all  over 
the  mountain  top,  and  the  smell  of  sulphur  was 
so  choking  we  were  obliged  to  cover  our  mouths 


(3°) 

and  noses.  It  looked  as  if  we  might  be  near  a 
place  sometimes  spoken  of  in  the  Bible.  We 
were  not  permitted  to  go  near  enough  to  the  cra- 
ter to  be  able  to  look  down  into  it,  because  it  is 
not  safe  to  do  so  now.  Even  where  we  were  was 
rather  dangerous,  as  there  were  two  explosions 
while  we  were  there,  and  great  showers  of  hot 
lava  and  stones  were  thrown  all  about  us.  Some 
of  them  were  as  large  as  a  dinner  pail,  and  I 
passed  one  in  the  path  on  my  way  down.  It  was 
a  relief  to  get  away  from  the  awful  place,  and  to 
find  ourselves  once  more  in  our  little  carriage, 
safely  on  our  way  home.  In  the  afternoon  we 
met,  on  the  level  road,  great  flocks  of  goats, 
going  home  to  be  milked.  They  are  not  pretty 
creatures  like  sheep,  and  are  such  ugly  colors, 
but  are  very  useful  here,  for  the  milk  and  butter. 
I  gathered  some  snow  not  far  from  the  crater, 
and  how  it  could  remain  there  for  any  length  of 
time,  when  even  the  ground  was  warm,  I  cannot 
imagine. 

Thursday  we  went  into  Naples,  three  quarters 
of  an  hour  by  train,  and  visited  the  National 
Museum,  where  so  many  relics  from  Pompeii 
are  kept,  and  also  went  through  the  Royal  Pal- 
ace, where  the  son  of  the  present  king  and 
queen,  Humbert  and  Marguerite,  lives.  It  is  a 
very  handsome  palace,  and  magnificently  fur- 
nished and  decorated.  As  we  were  coming  down- 
stairs on  our  way  out  we  met  Mrs.  and  Miss 
Underbill,  who  were  with  us  in  Paris  ;  they  were 
in  Nice  the  last  we  heard  from  them,  so  we  were 


much  surprised  and  pleased  to  meet  again,  even 
for  a  few  minutes.  Friday  we  came  by  carriage 
two  hours  and  a  half  to  this  place.  We  are  mak- 
ing a  little  trip  through  this  part  of  the  country 
with  a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sevier,  who  are  very  charm- 
ing English  people.  We  are  going  to  travel 
mostly  by  carriage  and  boat  for  about  ten  days, 
visiting  places  of  interest  and  history,  and  then 
go  back  to  Castellamare,  where  we  have  left  most 
of  our  baggage. 

oo    o 

Yesterday  nearly  everybody  in  this  delightful 
little  hotel  went  to  Paestum  by  train  to  see  the 
ruins  of  three  old  Greek  temples  about  2000 
years  old.  They  are  the  very  oldest  things  we 
have  yet  seen,  and  must  perhaps  be  the  next  old- 
est to  the  Pyramids.  The  mountains  and  sea  are 
very  attractive  there,  but  the  place  itself  is  the 
most  desolate  spot  I  ever  saw.  Nothing  seems  to 
abound  there  now  but  lizards,  and  they  are  very 
numerous  and  lively.  The  ruins  are  very  fine, 
the  great  stone  columns  are  more  than  seven  feet 
through,  and  in  the  largest  temple  there  are  about 
fifty-six  of  these  columns,  so  you  can  imagine 
what  a  large  building  it  must  have  been ;  and  yet 
it  was  so  finely  proportioned  that  it  did  not  ap- 
pear so  immense  after  all.  The  town  of  Paestum 
was  founded  about  six  hundred  years  before 
Christ.  We  had  beautiful  mountain  scenery  on 
the  way,  and  occasional  glimpses  of  the  blue  sea, 
and  the  hillsides  and  valleys  were  filled  with  gayly 
colored  wild  flowers,  —  narcissus,  primroses,  dai- 
sies, yellow  marigolds,  and  violets.  The  peach 


(32  ) 

blossoms  are  plentiful,  and  we  saw  fields  of  peas 
in  bloom.  Had  new  peas  for  dinner  here  night 
before  last.  We  saw  large  numbers  of  buffalo  in 
the  fields,  but  they  look  more  like  our  American 
cows,  and  not  so  shaggy  and  humpy  as  the  bison 
of  California. 

We  are  having  rain  to-day,  and  are  glad  of  a 
good  comfortable  hotel  in  which  to  spend  Sun- 
day. I  am  devoting  myself  to  writing  letters  to- 
day. With  much  love  from  all  of  us  to  you  and 
the  family,  I  am  as  ever, 

Your  affectionate  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

CASTELLAMARE,  ITALY,  March  23,  1890. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

Yours  of  March  3d  was  handed  me  on  the 
2Oth,  on  my  return  from  our  driving  trip.  A  few 
nights  before  that  I  dreamed  that  there  were 
thirteen  letters  awaiting  me  here,  and  on  count- 
ing them  after  they  were  given  to  me  I  found 
just  thirteen.  Was  n't  that  odd  ?  Now  I  am  very 
much  in  debt,  and  must  do  a  lot  of  writing  in  the 
next  few  days  in  order  to  make  up  for  lost  time 
while  driving  about  the  country. 

After  writing  you  last  Sunday  the  rain  stopped, 
so  we  concluded  to  go  on  that  afternoon  to 
Amalfi,  a  town  of  7700,  reduced  in  centuries 
from  50,000  people,  and  beautifully  situated  on 
the  mountain  side,  overlooking  the  sea.  The 
scenery  was  perfectly  grand  on  the  way,  the  cliffs 
were  so  abrupt  and  rugged  in  many  places,  and 


(33  ) 

in  others  the  whole  mountain  side  was  terraced 
and  had  lemon  groves  rilled  with  the  canary- 
colored  fruit.  Then  the  sea  was  always  on  the 
other  side,  with  varied  colorings,  and  the  surf 
was  dashing  in  with  great  force,  and  enormous 
waves.  Unfortunately,  the  rain  came  on  again 
after  we  had  gone  about  halfway,  and  the  mist 
and  our  umbrellas  rather  spoiled  the  views.  On 
reaching  Amalfi  we  had  to  climb  nearly  two  hun- 
dred steps  up  to  our  hotel  on  the  mountain  side. 
It  was  the  old  Capuchin  Monastery  now  used  as 
a  hotel,  and  was  queer  enough  inside,  and  yet 
very  comfortable  and  commanded  a  magnificent 
view,  perched  as  it  was  right  over  the  ocean. 
On  Monday  it  was  still  wet,  so  we  could  not  con- 
tinue our  journey,  but  the  afternoon  being  fine, 
we  made  an  excursion,  by  carriage,  to  the  top 
of  the  mountain,  where  is  a  pretty  little  town 
called  Ravello,  and  the  scenery  continued  to 
increase  in  grandeur  and  beauty  at  every  turn, — 
such  colorings  of  sea  and  sky,  of  Verdant  hill- 
sides and  deep  gorges,  that  we  were  wild  with  de- 
light and  admiration. 

Tuesday  morning  was  not  clear,  but  it  did  not 
rain,  so  we  concluded  not  to  delay  our  journey 
any  longer.  We  took  a  large  rowboat  with  four 
able  oarsmen ;  our  party  of  five  got  in  with  our 
small  amount  of  luggage,  and  we  started  for  a 
town  some  miles  distant,  where  we  were  to  meet 
the  carriage  which  was  to  take  us  to  Sorrento. 
The  waves  were  very  high,  and  none  of  our  party 
felt  too  comfortable,  being  thus  at  the  mercy  of 


(34) 

the  great  billows,  and  some  of  us  were  decidedly 
scared,  although  we  did  not  get  sick,  because  the 
wind  was  too  strong,  and  the  air  too  cold  for 
that. 

The  men  made  very  slow  progress  against  the 
waves,  and  after  about  an  hour  decided  to  land 
us  at  a  small  fishing  town  in  rather  a  sheltered 
spot,  for  they  dared  not  risk  rounding  the  next 
cliff,  where  they  would  come  right  into  the  face 
of  the  wind.  The  waves  rolled  high,  and  we 
wondered  how  we  were  going  to  be  landed,  but 
the  men  guided  the  boat  near  to  the  rocks,  and 
then  held  her  without  touching  them ;  while  on 
the  top  of  each  wave,  the  natives  on  the  shore 
assisted  us,  one  at  a  time,  up  on  the  rock.  It 
was  a  most  exciting  experience,  but  the  people 
did  their  part  splendidly,  and  we  did  our  part 
well,  too,  without  any  words  or  any  fuss.  But, 
all  the  same,  I  do  not  want  any  more  of  that 
kind  of  thing.  The  reason  we  had  to  take 
boat  at  all  was  because  the  new  road  is  not  yet 
finished  to  Amalfi.  When  that  is  done,  the 
whole  drive  from  Sorrento  to  Amalfi  and  from 
there  to  La  Cava,  by  the  coast,  will  be  the  grand- 
est one  in  the  world,  and  can  be  done  in  about 
eight  hours. 

After  we  had  rested,  the  men  took  our  luggage, 
and  we  went  in  procession  up  about  100  steps,  to 
the  new  road,  and  walked  an  hour  and  a  half  to 
Projano,  where  our  carriage  from  Sorrento  met 
us.  In  some  places  there  was  only  a  narrow  path 
with  a  sheer  precipice  down  hundreds  of  feet  into 


(35  ) 

the  roaring,  foaming,  dashing  sea,  and  the  moun- 
tain going  straight  up  on  the  other.  We  all  en- 
joyed the  walk  very  much,  and  felt  refreshed  by 
it,  instead  of  being  fatigued.  We  had  our  lunch 
picnic  style  in  the  carriage,  —  cold  chicken,  cold 
roast  beef,  good  bread  and  butter,  and  oranges 
and  apples,  and  as  soon  as  that  was  over  devoted 
ourselves  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  scenery.  It 
was  the  boldest  and  wildest  we  had  yet  seen,  and 
really  I  cannot  describe  it.  It  was  wonderful, 
and  made  us  feel  very  small,  beside  each  master- 
piece of  nature.  On  top  of  the  last  mountain 
the  tramontane,  or  wind,  struck  us,  and  such  wind 
I  never  was  out  in  before.  We  expected  to  be 
blown  out  of  the  carriage,  and  held  on  to  our 
bonnets  and  hats  with  main  force.  Getting  down 
into  the  valley  leading  to  Sorrento,  we  were  not 
so  exposed,  but  all  night  the  storm  raged  and  not 
ten  minutes  after  our  reaching  the  Tramontano 
Hotel,  the  rain  came  down  in  torrents.  So  we 
felt  very  thankful  that,  with  our  experience  by 
sea  and  land,  the  rain  held  off  so  well. 

We  remained  in  Sorrento  until  Thursday  morn- 
ing, waiting  for  the  weather  to  clear  up,  so  we 
could  go  over  to  Capri,  a  beautiful  island  quite 
near  here,  but  the  sea  was  so  rough  that  the  steam- 
boat did  not  leave  Naples  for  four  days,  and  as 
the  water  still  continued  to  be  very  much  dis- 
turbed, we  took  a  carriage  and  drove  over  to  Cas- 
tellamare  again.  We  feel  very  much  at  home 
here,  and  will  make  it  our  headquarters  as  long  as 
we  remain  in  the  neighborhood. 


(36  ) 

Yesterday  was  fine  and  we  went  into  Naples 
for  the  day  and  had  a  real  nice  time,  but  we  got 
to  the  station  one  minute  too  late  for  our  train 
and  had  to  wait  another  hour.  However,  as  we 
reached  home  just  as  dinner  was  ready,  at  seven 
o'clock,  it  was  not  so  bad  after  all.  To-day  is  a 
perfect  day,  and  our  landlord  says  we  had  better 
go  over  to  Capri  to-morrow,  so  we  will  take  the 
boat  from  a  small  town  half  an  hour's  drive  from 
here,  and  after  an  hour  and  a  half  on  the  water, 
will  reach  the  island  about  six  o'clock. 

Alice  and  Kate  have  gone  to  church,  but  I 
wanted  to  get  a  good  many  letters  written  to-day, 
and  declined  to  go.  Thursday  we  had  a  tremen- 
dous hail  and  rain  storm,  with  thunder  and  light- 
ning. The  storm  has  been  very  general  over  here  ; 
we  hear  of  floods  in  Vienna,  Paris,  and  Rome,  and 
much  damage  done. 

Thank  Eula  and  Florence  for  their  notes.  I 
cannot  answer  them  right  away,  as  I  have  so  many 
letters  to  write  just  now.  It  depends  a  good  deal 
upon  the  time  made  by  the  steamers,  whether 
or  not  my  letters  reach  you  promptly.  If  they 
catch  a  slow  steamer,  or  there  are  storms,  of 
course  it  takes  longer. 

With  much  love  to  one  and  all  the  family, 
and  the  good  friends  and  neighbors,  I  am  as 
ever, 

Your  loving  daughter, 

LIZZIE  McMiLLAN. 


(37) 

CASTELLAMARE,  ITALY,  March  30,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

Your  welcome  letter  of  March  loth  reached 
me  on  the  26th,  just  after  I  wrote  you,  before  we 
went  over  to  the  Island  of  Capri  and  spent  three 
days.  The  hotel  there  has  the  same  name  as  this 
one,  and  we  had  our  meals  there,  but  were  in  a 
cottage,  because  the  hotel  was  full.  Our  quarters 
were  not  of  the  most  luxurious  kind,  but  we 
rather  enjoyed  the  bareness  and  had  a  good  time. 

Capri  is  a  small  island,  not  so  large  as  Middle 
Bass,  if  it  were  flat,  but  being  mountainous  has  a 
good  deal  of  surface,  after  all.  There  are  two 
towns  on  the  island,  Capri,  with  3000  inhabitants, 
and  Anacapri  with  2000.  Capri  is  some  dis- 
tance up  from  the  coast,  with  a  stiff  climb  up  to 
it,  but  Anacapri  is  very  much  higher  and  cannot 
be  seen  from  the  sea.  The  products  of  the  island 
are  grapes,  olives,  lemons,  and  oranges,  and  the 
poorer  people  depend  upon  their  fishing  for  a 
living.  It  is  a  beautiful  spot,  with  splendid  views 
in  every  direction,  and  only  an  hour  and  a  half 
by  steamer  from  the  main  land.  To  reach  it  that 
day  we  left  here  by  carriage  at  2.30  P.  M.,  drove 
about  four  miles  to  a  small  town  where  there  was 
a  little  dock  and  good  beach,  were  taken  out  in  a 
rowboat,  where  we  waited  till  the  steamer  came 
alongside,  and  then  were  assisted  up  the  hanging 
steps  into  the  steamer.  On  reaching  Capri  we 
had  to  land  in  the  same  way,  as  there  are  no 
docks  along  this  coast  for  steamers  to  land  their 
passengers  directly.  The  sea  was  quite  rough 


that  day,  but  we  got  along  nicely,  without  ship- 
ping any  water.  Next  morning  we  walked  down 
to  the  landing  place,  took  a  rowboat,  and  started 
for  the  Blue  Grotto.  It  took  nearly  an  hour  to 
get  there,  and  then  came  the  particular  part  of 
the  business.  We  had  to  lie  down  in  the  boat 
in  order  to  get  through  the  low  natural  arch  into 
the  grotto,  and  as  the  waves  were  very  high,  it 
looked  as  if  we  might  get  one  in  the  boat,  —  how- 
ever, the  boatman  held  on  to  the  rocks,  and 
waited  till  a  receding  wave  left  the  opening  quite 
free,  and  then  we  went  in  with  a  rush.  At  first 
I  could  see  nothing,  but  in  a  few  moments  my 
eyes  became  accustomed  to  the  dim  light,  and  the 
grotto  became  visible.  The  water  was  a  most 
beautiful  light  blue,  and  the  rocks  above  us  and 
surrounding  us  seemed  of  silver.  A  boy  who 
came  in  with  us  for  the  purpose  dived,  and  was 
like  a  large  silver  frog  in  the  water.  The  grotto 
is  177  feet  long,  107  feet  wide,  and  44  feet  high, 
while  the  depth  of  the  water  is  70  feet.  It  was 
even  more  wonderful  and  beautiful  than  I  had 
supposed.  Coming  out  we  had  to  go  through  the 
same  performance  as  on  entering,  and  did  n't  get 
a  drop  of  water.  The  row  home  was  delightful. 
There  are  quite  a  number  of  grottoes  under  the 
island  of  more  or  less  beauty,  but  this  one  is  the 
finest,  so  we  did  not  attempt  to  see  any  of  the 
others.  That  afternoon  we  took  a  drive  up  to  the 
higher  town,  along  a  beautiful  new  and  smooth 
road  winding  up  the  side  of  the  mountain,  and 
overlooking  enormous  cliffs  of  rock,  and  looking 


(39  ) 

down  into  the  blue  water  of  the  sea.  Tuesday 
morning  we  took  a  small  girl  as  guide  and  climbed 
one  of  the  cliffs  to  the  Villa  Tiberius,  the  ruins 
of  one  of  many  villas  built  by  Emperor  Tiberius. 
This  one  has  a  sheer  cliff  on  the  sea  side,  and  his- 
tory tells  us  that  he  used  to  throw  into  the  sea  from 
this  point  any  one  who  offended  him.  It  was  a 
three  hours'  walk,  and  some  of  it  was  real  hard, 
but  we  enjoyed  it  and  the  views  from  the  top 
immensely.  That  afternoon  Kate  and  I  planned 
an  excursion  on  donkeys,  up  Mt.  Salaro,  the 
highest  point  on  the  island,  2060  feet  above  the 
sea.  We  drove  up  to  Anacapri,  expecting  our 
donkeys  to  meet  us  there,  but  after  waiting  more 
than  an  hour,  and  seeing  no  sign  of  them,  we 
sadly  went  home  again.  On  the  way  down  the 
wind  came  up  and  it  grew  quite  cold,  so  per- 
haps we  might  have  taken  cold  if  we  had  gone. 
Wednesday  morning  we  took  our  little  girl  guide 
again  and  had  another  very  enjoyable  scrambling 
excursion  to  a  natural  arch  in  the  rocks,  and  to 
a  land  grotto  which  was  very  wonderful.  At 
2.30  we  left  by  steamer  for  Sorrento  where  our 
carriage  met  us,  according  to  agreement  with 
our  landlord,  and  at  six  o'clock  we  were  back 
here,  having  had  a  delightful  trip  and  most  per- 
fect weather  all  the  time. 

Last  Friday  we  had  another  excursion  by  car- 
riage, over  the  mountain  back  of  our  house,  where 
we  looked  down  on  Amalfi  and  the  town  where 
we  were  landed  on  the  rocks  ten  days  before. 
We  went  through  the  mountain  near  the  top,  by 


(  40  ) 

means  of  a  long  tunnel,  and  on  reaching  the  other 
side  found  ourselves  on  a  cliff  2200  feet  above 
the  sea.  It  was  a  grand  outlook,  and  we  were 
all  so  glad  to  have  been  advised  to  go  there.  We 
were  away  from  here  seven  hours,  and  ate  our 
lunch  on  the  highest  point  on  the  sea,  where  a 
hotel  is  being  built. 

Yesterday  we  took  a  charming  walk  in  the 
royal  woods,  and  to  the  mountain  beyond.  We 
were  walking  for  three  hours,  but  did  not  think 
of  being  tired,  on  account  of  the  beauty  of  our 
surroundings.  We  are  having  the  most  perfect 
June  weather  in  March.  My  window  is  open 
and  the  air  is  soft  and  delicious,  while  the  per- 
fume from  the  orange  blossoms  and  flowers  floats 
in,  and  the  birds  are  doing  their  best  to  give  me 
a  taste  of  their  happiness.  Underneath,  in  the 
chapel,  the  English  service  is  going  on  ;  I  can 
hear  the  music  and  responses,  but  not  under- 
standing nor  appreciating  that  service,  I  have 
allowed  Alice  and  Kate  to  go  without  me.  It  is 
much  more  pleasure  for  me  to  be  writing  to  my 
dear  father. 

Now  I  must  finish  my  letter  and  get  it  into 
the  mail  before  it  is  too  late.     With  much  love 
to  one  and  all,  and  your  dear  self  in  particular, 
Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

Had  a  dear  good  letter  from  Minnie  Kingston 
a  few  days  ago,  and  will  answer  it  as  soon  as  I 
can.  In  one  week  I  had  twenty-four  letters,  so 
you  see  I  am  having  my  hands  full. 


TAORMINA,  SICILY,  April  14,  1890. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

I  am  a  little  late  in  writing  this  time,  but  could 
not  help  it,  as  we  have  been  so  busy  sight-seeing 
and    traveling    since    leaving    Castellamare    last 
Monday  morning.     We  drove  into  Naples,  sev- 
enteen   miles,  and    reached    there   about    noon. 
After  buying  tickets  to    Palermo,  going  to  the 
bank,  having  lunch,  and  doing  a  little  shopping, 
we  rowed  out  to  the  steamer  in  the  harbor  about 
four  P.  M.  and  sailed  at  five  o'clock  for  Palermo. 
Naples   looked  very   beautiful    in    the    evening 
light,  and  as  we  passed  our  beloved  Castellamare 
the  sun  seemed  to   be   casting  his   evening  rays 
especially  on  that  one  spot,  as  if  to  give  us  a 
parting  benediction.    We  had  a  perfectly  smooth 
voyage,    and    landed    at    Palermo    on  Tuesday 
morning  at  nine  o'clock,  in  a  rainstorm.     All  the 
time  of  our  stay  in  Palermo  the  weather  was  like 
April,  and  so  it  was  quite   proper  because  it  was 
April,  but  we  managed   to   see  the  town  pretty 
thoroughly  between  the  showers,  and  did  not  get 
wet  at   all.      We  visited    the   palace   and   went 
to    the   top   of  it  for   a  view   of  the   city,  and 
also  climbed  to  the   top   of  a  cathedral  outside 
the  town  on  the  hillside,  and  had  another  fine 
view  from   that  point.      The   morning  we   left 
we  drove    to    a    villa  in  another    direction  and 
climbed  up  a  pebbly  path  to  a  high  point,  and 
had  another    good    view.     The    harbor  is  very 
pretty,  and    the   town    looks   very  picturesque, 
from  an  elevation.     There  are  some  very  hand- 


(40 

some  streets  and  buildings,  and  a  population  of 
245,000.  In  the  museum  we  saw  pottery  which 
dates  back  600  years  before  Christ.  We  left  on 
Friday  at  2.50  by  train  for  Girgenti,  a  town  of 
21,300  inhabitants,  on  the  southern  coast  of 
Sicily,  looking  towards  Africa,  and  visited  usually 
on  account  of  the  ruins  of  famous  old  Greek 
temples,  which  were  built  about  600  years  before 
Christ.  Some  of  them  are  very  well  preserved 
still,  and  speak  of  the  riches  and  grandeur  of 
those  old  times,  while  others  are  masses  of  ruins, 
caused  by  an  earthquake.  The  country  around 
these  old  ruins  is  beautiful,  very  hilly  and  fertile. 
The  chief  product  of  the  country  is  sulphur,  of 
which  there  are  great  mines  in  some  places  where 
nothing  seems  to  grow.  There  are  no  trees  in  the 
sulphur  district  and  very  little  vegetation  of  any 
kind,  so  that  part  of  Sicily  looks  bleak  and  bar- 
ren. There  are  large  lemon,  olive,  fig,  and  almond 
orchards  on  the  island,  and  in  the  great  plain  at 
the  foot  of  Mount  Etna  grape-growing  seems  to 
be  the  principal  industry.  I  inclose  a  sample  of 
the  Sicilian  clover,  which  is  fed  to  the  donkeys. 
The  hillsides  covered  with  it  present  a  most  beau- 
tiful appearance.  The  leaf  is  quite  different  from 
that  of  American  clover,  too,  but  this  morning 
I  found  some  white  clover  exactly  like  ours,  in 
flower,  leaf,  and  perfume. 

Our  journey  from  Girgenti  to  Taormina  was 
very  interesting,  but  very  tedious,  as  it  took  us 
from  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  till  9.30  at 
night  to  come  143  miles.  The  country  is  very 


(43  ) 

mountainous,  and  when  I  tell  you  that  we  came 
through  thirty-one  tunnels  during  the  day  you 
can  realize  the  fact  of  there  being  a  good  many 
mountains.  About  4.30  Mount  Etna  burst 
upon  us,  and  we  had  been  looking  at  this  great 
white  cloud  for  some  time  before  we  realized  that 
it  was  really  Etna.  It  was  glistening  in  the  sun- 
light, with  its  crown  of  eternal  snow,  while  soft 
fleecy  clouds  enveloped  its  sides,  and  it  was  hard 
to  tell  which  was  mountain  and  which  was  cloud. 
Being  surrounded  with  level  country,  while  the 
other  mountains  are  close  together,  makes  it 
appear  even  more  majestic  than  it  would  other- 
wise, yet  it  is  10,835  ^eet  h*gn>  an<^  seems  to  be 
almost  set  in  the  clouds.  We  had  a  gorgeous 
sunset,  where  the  sky  seemed  like  a  sea  of  liquid 
fire,  and  then  the  afterglow  on  the  mountain  was 
wonderful.  Only  on  snow  mountains  does  one 
ever  get  the  rosy  glow  of  the  setting  sun,  and 
this  was  perfection. 

This  morning  we  have  been  to  a  very  high 
point  above  this  town  for  the  view.  The  town  it- 
self is  380  feet  above  the  sea,  and  this  point  where 
we  climbed  this  morning  is  much  higher.  They 
say  the  finest  view  in  Europe  is  from  this  spot, 
and  certainly  I  never  expect  to  see  anything  more 
magnificent,  no  matter  where  I  go.  We  looked 
down  on  the  beautiful  blue  sea,  with  its  shore 
going  out  in  points,  and  saw  Italy  and  its  snow 
peaks  in  the  distance,  while  on  the  other  side  was 
Etna,  looking  more  like  a  fairy  mountain  of  the 
imagination  than  a  genuine  great  volcanic  moun- 


(  44  ) 

tain.  It  has  not  had  an  eruption  for  four  years, 
but  that  one  was  terrible.  We  saw  fields  of  lava 
in  passing  Catania  yesterday,  and  as  we  go  back 
there  to-morrow  in  order  to  sail  from  there  for 
Athens  on  Wednesday,  we  expect  to  see  a  good 
deal  of  the  remains  of  that  last  eruption. 

We  are  having  perfect  weather  now;  the  sun  is 
warm  and  bright,  and  we  are  going  to  a  high  hill 
this  evening  for  the  sunset  on  Etna.  There  are 
very  few  cattle  in  Sicily ;  the  milk  we  use  is  goats1 
milk,  and  the  butter  comes  from  a  distance.  The 
Sicilian  language  is  quite  different  from  the  Italian, 
but  we  get  along,  with  French  and  English. 

Again  we  are  housed  in  an  old  convent.  It  is 
kept  by  an  Englishman,  and  even  the  servants 
are  English,  while  the  food  is  quite  homelike.  It 
has  a  splendid  location,  overlooking  the  sea,  and 
from  the  gate  we  can  see  Etna,  —  that  is  where 
we  are  going  in  the  morning  to  see  the  sunrise. 
In  a  few  minutes  we  are  going  for  a  drive,  so  I 
must  end  my  letter.  I  cannot  hear  from  you 
again  till  we  reach  Constantinople,  about  the  25th 
of  the  month.  This  old  convent  is  very  odd  and 
picturesque  ;  I  wish  I  could  give  you  an  idea  of 
it,  but  that  is  impossible.  We  are  so  comfort- 
able here  that  we  do  not  want  to  go  away,  but 
must  to-morrow.  Hoping  you  are  all  well  and 
happy,  with  a  great  deal  of  love  to  all,  and  to  you 
in  particular, 

Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE    McMlLLAN. 


(45  ) 

ATHENS,  GREECE,  April  20,  1890. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

My  last  letter  was  written  from  Taormina, 
Sicily,  on  the  I4th.  We  had  a  charming  time 
there,  and  enjoyed  greatly  the  views  of  the  fine 
mountainous  coast  and  Mount  Etna.  Tuesday, 
1 5th,  after  lunch,  we  took  the  train  for  Catania, 
the  nearest  large  town  to  the  mountain,  and  the 
port  from  which  we  sailed  for  Athens.  Catania 
is  a  handsome  town  with  85,000  inhabitants. 
From  our  hotel  windows  we  had  a  full  view  of 
Etna,  and  from  several  high  points  about  the 
town  we  also  had  splendid  glimpses  of  the  won- 
derful mountain.  There  are  large  lava  fields  in 
and  about  the  town,  from  the  last  eruption  four 
years  ago,  and  these  huge  black  masses  give  the 
place  a  rather  dreary  look. 

At  noon  on  the  i6th,  Wednesday,  we  were  on 
board  the  steamer  Gottardo,  bound  for  Athens. 
As  the  boat  receded  from  the  land,  the  mountain 
seemed  to  grow  higher  and  larger,  and  the  last 
view  was,  to  my  mind,  the  grandest  of  all.  On 
account  of  the  large  quantities  of  snow  on  the 
mountain,  no  ascents  are  made  until  about  mid- 
summer, otherwise  I  would  have  been  very  much 
tempted  to  climb  to  the  summit. 

We  had  a  medium  voyage  of  two  days  to  reach 
Athens,  but  Alice  and  I  were  both  sick,  and  glad 
enough  to  reach  land  again.  We  landed  as  usual, 
in  small  boats,  at  Piraeus,  the  seaport  of  Athens, 
about  five  miles  from  here,  and  after  passing  the 
custom-house  safely,  we  took  a  carriage  and  drove 


(46  ) 

over  instead  of  coming  by  train.  We  are  com- 
fortably settled  in  a  very  good  hotel,  of  which 
there  are  many,  and  all  full  of  English,  German, 
and  American  travelers.  All  the  waiters  and 
people  of  the  hotel  speak  some  English,  so  our 
Greek  does  not  need  to  come  into  play. 

Athens  is  quite  a  modern  looking  town,  except- 
ing in  the  old  part,  and  where  the  ruins  are,  but 
it  was  large  enough  for  us  to  lose  ourselves  yes- 
terday, in  taking  a  walk.  The  streets  are  wide 
and  clean  mostly,  and  the  buildings  are  of  white 
marble ;  the  pavements  are  of  the  same,  as 
marble  is  more  common  here  than  wood.  The 
shores  of  Greece  are  rugged,  barren,  and  hilly, 
but  not  particularly  beautiful,  because  there  is 
very  little  verdure  or  cultivation,  and  no  trees  of 
any  account.  The  outskirts  of  the  town  are  not 
pretty  either,  but  there  are  fine  gardens  and  some 
public  parks  in  the  city,  and  some  avenues  of 
pepper  trees.  The  dress  of  the  people  is  very 
picturesque  and  interesting  and  has  a  good  deal 
of  variety  and  color.  The  inclosed  picture  is  of  a 
peasant,  but  the  men  are  the  most  striking  in  their 
costumes,  —  many  of  them  are  dressed  in  white, 
with  a  full  white  petticoat  well  starched,  which 
falls  halfway  to  the  knees,  and  a  dark,  beautifully 
embroidered  sort  of  vest. 

We  drove  about  yesterday  morning  to  get 
an  idea  of  the  place,  and  to  see  the  famous  old 
Greek  temples.  The  Acropolis  is  about  200 
feet  high,  and  has  the  Parthenon  and  a  good  many 
other  temples  on  it.  The  Parthenon  is  the  best 


(47  ) 

preserved,  and  is  very  majestic  and  imposing  with 
its  immense  white  marble  columns  and  grand  pro- 
portions. Mars  Hill  is  just  opposite,  only  a  few 
hundred  yards  away,  and  to-morrow  1  expect  to 
stand  on  the  spot  where  Paul  preached  his  famous 
sermon  to  the  Athenians.  It  seems  almost  im- 
possible to  believe  that  I  am  really  in  this  city 
of  Athens,  whose  real  age  history  has  never 
been  able  to  discover,  whose  ruins  date  600  years 
before  Christ,  and  where  St.  Paul  stayed  and 
preached  to  the  people  of  Greece. 

This  morning  Kate  and  I  went  to  two 
churches,  —  first  to  the  Russian,  which  is  just 
about  the  same  as  the  Greek  Church,  and  has  the 
forms  and  ceremonies  common  to  all  Catholic 
churches,  but  which  is  very  impressive  here. 
While  we  were  there  we  saw  a  friend  whom  we 
met  at  our  boarding  house  in  Paris  last  winter, 
Dr.  Kords,  of  Chicago,  an  artist  and  a  very  fine 
man,  who  has  been  to  the  Holy  Land,  Egypt, 
and  Constantinople,  and  is  just  on  his  way  back 
to  Italy.  We  were  so  surprised  and  pleased  to 
meet  him  again,  and  he  has  spent  an  hour  with 
us  this  afternoon,  recounting  his  various  expe- 
riences. 

We  were  expecting  to  sail  for  Constantinople 
on  Wednesday,  but  could  not  get  accommoda- 
tions, the  boats  are  so  crowded  just  now.  So 
we  leave  on  Friday  instead,  and  go  by  way  of 
Smyrna,  where  we  will  spend  six  hours.  We 
wanted  to  go  there,  but  had  given  up  the  idea, 
and  now  must  go  that  way  in  spite  of  ourselves. 


(48  ) 

Mails  leave  Athens  only  three  times  a  week,  so 
this  letter  will  not  be  very  prompt  in  reaching 
you.  Do  not  be  anxious  when  you  do  not  hear, 
for  mails  are  very  uncertain  in  this  part  of  the 
world.  The  weather  is  very  warm  here,  just  like 
June  or  July  at  home,  but  the  nights  are  cool 
and  delightful.  We  enjoy  seeing  these  new  and 
(to  us)  strange  scenes,  and  I  am  making  a  collec- 
tion of  photographs  to  remind  me  of  what  I 
have  seen,  when  again  on  your  side  of  the  water. 
Love  to  all,  and  to  you  most  of  all,  dear 
father. 

Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

CONSTANTINOPLE,  TURKEY,  April  29,  1890. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

The  past  week  has  been  so  full  of  interesting 
events  that  I  scarcely  know  where  to  begin,  and 
may  not  be  ready  to  make  an  end  of  it,  either. 
So,  having  made  my  little  excuse,  and  warned 
you  of  what  may  happen,  I  will  proceed  to  give 
you  an  account  of  our  doings  and  journeyings 
since  writing  you  last  on  the  2Oth  from  Athens. 

Monday  morning,  the  2ist,  we  drove  to  the 
Acropolis  and  explored  the  ancient  ruins  of  old 
temples  more  than  2500  years  old.  The  largest 
and  most  perfect  of  these  is  the  Parthenon,  of 
which  there  remain  standing  perhaps  seventy-five 
enormous  marble  columns  out  of  ninety-eight,  the 
original  number.  These  grayish,  fluted  columns 
are  more  than  six  feet  in  diameter,  and  hundreds 


(49) 

of  years  ago  were  pure  white,  glistening  in  the 
sunlight.  The  carved  figures  and  friezes  and 
most  of  the  decorations  have  been  taken  away  to 
the  British  Museum,  London,  but  if  the  mere 
ruins  and  fragments  are  so  grand,  how  magnifi- 
cent must  the  hill  have  appeared  before  war,  time, 
and  the  grasping  hand  of  man  wrought  such  de- 
struction there ! 

The  hill  of  Acropolis  is  200  feet  high,  much 
higher  and  larger  than  Mars  Hill,  which  is  only  a 
few  hundred  yards  distant,  and  when  Paul  stood 
there  and  said  to  the  Athenians :  "  Ye  men  of 
Athens,  I  perceive  that  in  all  things  ye  are  too 
superstitious,"  no  doubt  he  directed  their  atten- 
tion, by  a  wave  of  the  hand,  to  the  splendid  tem- 
ples opposite.  We  crossed  over  to  Mars  Hill, 
and  I  stood  on  the  spot  where  St.  Paul  is  said  to 
have  stood  on  that  interesting  occasion  mentioned 
in  the  iyth  chapter  of  Acts.  There  were  some 
other  tourists  on  the  hill  at  the  same  time,  and 
one  gentleman,  a  minister  I  believe,  read  the 
words  of  St.  Paul  to  us,  which  made  the  scene 
quite  an  impressive  one. 

That  afternoon  we  drove  out  of  the  city  about 
fifteen  miles  to  see  the  ruins  of  the  temples  of 
Eleusis,  which  are  much  older  than  those  in 
Athens.  They  had  evidently  been  very  large 
and  magnificent,  judging  from  the  remains  of 
immense  marble  columns,  and  fine  carving,  but 
the  whole  place  was  a  mass  of  broken  and  de- 
faced marble,  which  covered  acres  of  ground. 
The  drive  was  delightful  and  the  country  very 


(  5°) 

pretty  and  interesting.  It  was  warm  when  we 
left  the  hotel,  and  looked  like  rain,  but  before 
we  came  back  the  sky  was  clear  and  the  air  so 
cool  that  we  were  glad  to  have  the  carriage  closed. 
We  saw  quite  a  number  of  shepherds  about  the 
country,  with  their  crooks,  watching  their  flocks. 
The  sheep  were  quite  different  from  ours,  and 
the  goats  much  larger  than  those  we  saw  in  Italy, 
but  the  lambs  and  kids  were  playful  and  cute. 

The  next  day  we  felt  the  effect  of  so  much 
sight-seeing,  and  as  the  wind  was  high  and 
the  dust  intensely  disagreeable,  we  remained  at 
home ;  but  Wednesday  morning  Kate  and  I 
climbed  a  hill  near  the  city,  900  feet  high,  to  get 
the  view,  and  a  fine  one  it  was.  Afterwards  we 
saw  a  number  of  things,  and  then  rested  till  the 
cool  of  the  afternoon,  when  we  went  to  the  Acro- 
polis for  the  sunset.  While  on  the  Hill  we  had 
soft  light  on  the  surrounding  hills,  while  the  sky 
was  a  deep  blue,  and  then  we  went  down  to  an- 
other temple  nearer  the  town  and  stood  among 
the  splendid  columns  and  watched  the  sun  sink 
behind  the  Parthenon  in  a  liquid  sea  of  golden 
glory,  while  the  opposite  hillsides  became  a  deep 
pink  color.  It  was  wonderful,  and  we  could 
scarcely  restrain  our  enthusiasm  enough  to  seem 
like  peaceable,  law-abiding  American  citizens. 
Thursday  we  also  spent  in  sight-seeing,  going 
to  several  museums  of  antiquity,  among  others  to 
the  collection  of  Dr.  Schliemann,  who  believes 
he  has  located  the  site  of  ancient  Troy,  and  in 
his  excavations  has  found  many  valuable,  quaint, 


and  wonderful  old  remains  of  past  richness  and 
power. 

On  Friday,  25th,  we  left  Athens  with  real  re- 
gret, and  drove  to  Piraeus,  the  seaport,  and  sailed 
for  Smyrna  at  four  the  same  afternoon.  We  had 
dreaded  the  trip  very  much,  having  been  so  mis- 
erable on  the  way  to  Athens,  but  met  with  a 
pleasant  disappointment  in  being  perfectly  well 
all  the  time.  The  sea  was  quiet,  the  air  deli- 
cious, the  boat  large,  steady,  and  our  staterooms 
very  comfortable,  while  the  officers  and  several 
of  the  passengers  were  most  attentive  and  kind 
in  looking  after  us.  We  had  on  board  many 
nations  represented.  There  was  an  Egyptian 
prince,  brother  to  the  Khedive,  who  looked  like 
any  other  ordinary-looking  man  ;  then  there  were 
Greeks  and  Turks,  the  latter  in  their  native  dress 
generally,  priests,  etc.  The  steamer  was  one  of 
the  Egyptian  Line,  and  had  all  kinds  of  men  as 
crew  and  officers,  but  one  of  the  latter  was  an 
Englishman  and  gave  us  a  good  deal  of  informa- 
tion about  the  country. 

Saturday  morning  at  eleven  o'clock  we  reached 
Smyrna,  and  as  soon  as  the  boat  stopped  there 
we  were  surrounded  by  small  boats,  some  full 
of  people  expecting  to  meet  friends,  and  others 
wanting  passengers.  It  was  an  odd  and  amus- 
ing sight,  and  we  almost  forgot  that  we  wanted 
to  go  on  shore,  we  were  so  much  entertained 
watching  the  crowd.  Finally  we  found  a  drago- 
man who  spoke  English  ;  he  found  a  boat  and 
managed  to  get  us  into  it  without  losing  any  of 


(  5*  ) 

us  overboard,  which  was  rather  astonishing,  as  we 
had  to  cross  several  boats  on  the  way  to  ours, 
—  and  soon  we  were  in  Asia.  It  was  a  glori- 
ous day,  but  very  warm  in  Smyrna,  which  is 
much  shut  in  by  the  hills  on  every  side  excepting 
that  of  the  sea.  We  got  a  carriage  and  drove  all 
over  the  old  town,  through  the  narrowest,  rough- 
est, dirtiest,  most  picturesque  and  thickly  popu- 
lated streets  one  could  well  imagine.  These  were 
the  bazaars  one  always  hears  about  in  connection 
with  these  old  Eastern  cities.  We  often  had  to 
walk,  and  met,  during  these  walks,  a  great  many 
camels  laden  with  goods.  The  camels  go  in  pro- 
cession, with  a  rope  stretching  from  one  to  an- 
other, and  the  last  camel  has  a  bell  on  his  neck. 
They  are  in  lines  of  six,  and  march  along  in  a 
most  dignified  and  stately  manner.  We  counted 
more  than  one  hundred  camels,  during  the  few 
hours  we  spent  in  Smyrna.  We  saw  Greeks, 
Turks,  Nubians,  Jews,  Armenians,  and  Egyp- 
tians, all  in  their  native  costumes,  and  many  Turk- 
ish women  in  their  masks  and  veils,  looking  very 
mysterious. 

Smyrna  has  nearly  300,000  inhabitants  and  is 
finely  situated  ;  it  has  a  good  harbor,  but  much 
too  small  for  the  necessities  of  the  place.  We 
left  for  Constantinople  at  six  Saturday  evening, 
and  at  midnight  we  tied  up  at  Mitylene,  where 
Paul  stopped  on  one  of  his  journeys,  recorded  in 
Acts  xx.  We  were  there  only  a  few  hours,  how- 
ever, and  during  Sunday  passed  through  the  Dar- 
danelles, and  saw  the  spot  where  Xerxes  had  his 


(  53  ) 

bridge  of  boats.  Now  there  are  Turkish  forts  and 
fortifications  all  about  that  part  of  the  Darda- 
nelles, and  woe  to  any  daring  man-of-war  that 
tries  to  pass  them. 

Sunday  night  we  were  on  the  Sea  of  Marmora, 
and  reached  Constantinople  at  five  o'clock  Mon- 
day morning.  At  four  we  were  all  on  deck  to 
get  the  first  view  of  the  city  as  we  entered  the 
Golden  Horn.  It  was  a  grand  sight,  and  when 
the  rosy  light  had  grown  brighter  and  brighter, 
and  then  when  the  sun  made  his  appearance  over 
the  distant  hills,  illuminating  the  windows  and 
domes  of  the  great  city,  I  thought  I  had  never 
seen  anything  more  beautiful.  By  six  o'clock  we 
had  shown  our  passports  for  the  first  time,  had 
passed  the  customs  without  having  to  open  a 
single  bag,  and  were  safely  anchored  at  the  hotel. 

On  the  way  up  from  the  wharf,  during  a  walk 
of  about  ten  minutes,  I  counted  119  dogs  lying 
in  the  street  and  on  the  pavement.  The  dogs  of 
Constantinople  are  a  part  of  it.  None  are  ever 
killed,  for  that  is  against  the  religion  of  the  Turks. 
They  consider  it  a  crime  to  kill  a  dog,  and  very 
unlucky  to  see  one  killed  by  any  one  else. 

As  soon  as  the  banks  were  open  we  went  for 
our  mail,  and  my  share  was  twenty-eight  letters 
and  a  magazine.  It  took  me  three  hours  to  read 
my  letters,  and  bids  fair  to  take  weeks  to  answer 
them.  Three  were  from  you,  and  it  gave  me 
great  pleasure  and  satisfaction,  to  know  that  you 
were  all  well. 

We  took  a  drive  yesterday  afternoon  and  saw 


(  54) 

how  large  and  how  beautifully  situated  is  Con- 
stantinople. It  has  1,500,000  people,  and  it  seems 
as  if  they  all  spend  most  of  their  time  on  the 
street.  To-day  we  have  had  a  carriage  and  a  dra- 
goman, and  have  been  busy  seeing  mosques  and 
bazaars  and  wonderfully  interesting  things  gen- 
erally. The  Sultan  has  a  good  many  palaces,  but 
I  do  not  know  how  many.  These  palaces,  bar- 
racks, and  public  buildings  are  very  fine,  and  the 
city  is  looking  its  best  just  now.  It  is  the  season 
of  Lent  just  at  present,  at  least  it  corresponds  to 
the  English  Lent,  and  good  Turks  only  eat  once 
a  day,  —  after  sunset.  This  evening  we  attended 
service  at  St.  Sophia's,  the  largest  and  oldest 
mosque  here,  and  very  handsome.  As  we  drove 
over  to  Stamboul,  which  is  the  old  part  of  the 
city  and  where  most  everything  of  especial  inter- 
est is  to  be  found,  the  four  slender  high  towers 
(called  minarets)  of  St.  Sophia's  were  lighted  up 
and  looked  beautiful.  We,  being  heretics,  were 
only  allowed  to  look  down  upon  the  worshipers 
from  the  gallery.  The  service  consists  of  some 
reading  from  the  Koran  in  a  chant  or  sing-song 
tone ;  the  people  bowing,  then  kneeling,  and 
then  touching  their  heads  to  the  ground,  all  in 
unison.  This  is  repeated  a  great  many  times,  with 
intervals  between.  To  me  it  looked  most  ludi- 
crous, with  nothing  solemn  or  impressive  about 
it.  We  soon  grew  tired  of  it  and  came  home,  but 
getting  home  was  rather  slow  work,  on  account 
of  the  crowds  of  people  in  the  streets.  We  have 
had  a  very  full  day  and  I  am  rather  fatigued. 


(  55  ) 

As  it  is  now  almost  midnight,  perhaps  it  would 
be  well  for  me  to  bid  you  good-night. 
Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE  McMlLLAN. 
BUDAPEST,  HUNGARY,  May  6,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

I  received  yours  of  April  i4th  with  inclosure 
from  Charlie,  last  Saturday,  the  day  we  left  Con- 
stantinople, and  thank  you  both  very  much  for 
them.  I  wrote  you  on  the  29th,  after  we  had 
been  two  days  in  that  great  Turkish  city,  and  the 
longer  we  stayed  there  the  more  fascinated  we 
were  with  the  customs  and  dress  of  the  people, 
and  the  sights  all  about  us,  so  entirely  different 
from  anything  ever  seen  out  of  Constantinople. 
I  cannot  remember  of  writing  about  the  even- 
ing service  we  attended  at  the  oldest  and  finest 
mosque  in  the  city  on  Tuesday,  29th,  so  will  tell 
you  now,  even  if  it  may  be  a  repetition  of  what 
was  in  my  last  letter.  We  went  with  our  drago- 
man about  half  past  eight,  and  on  arriving  at  St. 
Sophia's  were  directed  to  the  gallery,  because  our 
heretic  feet  could  not  be  permitted  to  stand  on 
the  same  floor  with  the  pious  Turk.  The  church 
was  perfectly  lovely  with  its  thousands  of  twin- 
kling lights,  but  even  so  many  lamps  did  not 
make  the  place  brilliant,  for  they  were  what  is 
called  floating  wicks,  and  not  by  any  means  as 
bright  as  gas,  nor  even  equal  to  candles.  The 
Turks  were  standing  in  rows,  each  row  near  a 
space  between  the  matting  and  the  floor,  this 


(  56  ) 

space  being  left  for  their  boots  which  are  taken 
off  on  entering  the  church.  The  hats  were  worn 
all  during  service.  After  the  chanting  of  the  Ko- 
ran began,  at  certain  times  and  at  intervals  all  fell 
to  their  knees  and  bowed  low,  raised  the  body, 
bowed  to  the  ground  again,  and  then  stood  up. 
This  ceremony  was  repeated  thirty-two  times.  To 
me  it  was  very  funny  and  looked  most  ridiculous, 
but  to  the  Turks  I  suppose  it  means  a  great  deal. 
They  all  seemed  very  much  in  earnest,  and  yet, 
in  five  minutes  after  their  devotions  I  suppose 
they  would  cheat  or  even  kill  a  dog  of  a  Chris- 
tian with  great  pleasure.  Our  dragoman  was  a 
Greek,  and  of  course  very  much  prejudiced  against 
the  Turks,  and  was  always  showing  his  strong 
feeling  in  that  direction.  We  did  not  stay  very 
long,  as,  having  seen  the  performance  once  was 
to  see  it  as  it  is  always,  and  so  went  home.  The 
city  looked  very  beautiful  with  its  300  mosques 
and  minarets  all  lighted,  and  then  it  was  lovely 
moonlight  besides. 

There  are  two  bridges  over  the  Golden  Horn, 
uniting  Stamboul,  which  is  the  old  town,  with 
Constantinople,  the  new  one.  Galata  Bridge  is 
the  first  one,  nearest  the  Sea  of  Marmora  and  the 
Bosphorus,  and  Stamboul  is  the  name  of  the 
other.  Some  time  ago,  when  they  were  going  to 
build  a  new  bridge,  on  putting  it  together  they 
found  it  was  too  short  for  the  place  for  which  it 
had  been  measured,  so  they  selected  another 
spot,  put  it  there,  and  then  had  a  new  bridge 
built  for  the  original  spot.  So  now  they  have 


(  57  ) 

two  bridges  instead  of  one.  The  streets  were  so 
full  of  people  that  sometimes  our  carriage  had  to 
stop  altogether.  Crowds  of  men  sat  in  the  coffee- 
rooms  or  on  the  pavements  smoking  the  favorite 
hookah,  or  pipe  with  a  long  tube  attached  to  a 
large  bottle  of  water.  The  smoke  goes  down  into 
the  water  and  thus  modifies  the  strength  of  the 
tobacco. 

Wednesday  afternoon  we  went  over  to  Scutari, 
in  Asia,  a  large  city  on  the  point  of  the  Sea  of 
Marmora  and  the  Bosphorus.  We  had  made 
several  attempts  to  see  the  American  consul  after 
arriving  at  Constantinople,  but  he  was  always  out, 
and  when  we  got  on  the  boat  to  cross  to  Scutari 
he  was  there  with  his  family  and  some  friends. 
He  introduced  himself  to  us  and  presented  his 
wife,  and  invited  us  to  join  their  party,  as  we  were 
all  going  to  the  same  places.  We  had  a  charm- 
ing afternoon.  The  views  from  the  high  hill  we 
climbed  behind  the  town  were  wonderfully  fine 
and  extensive.  We  drove  through  the  Turkish 
cemetery,  where  100,000  of  the  victims  of  the 
Crimean  war  are  buried,  and  walked  through 
the  English  cemetery  where  the  poor  fellows 
lie  who  lost  their  lives  in  the  same  bloody  war. 
The  difference  between  the  two  places  was  very 
marked.  The  Turkish  cemetery  always  is  known 
by  its  cypress  trees,  which  look  very  much  like 
the  tall  poplars  in  height  and  shape,  and  the 
gravestones  are  very  close  together,  without  any 
regularity,  and  the  place  has  a  neglected  and 
tumble-down  look,  while  the  English  one  has 


beautiful  shade  trees,  a  lovely  carpet  of  grass,  and 
plenty  of  flowers  and  shrubs.  We  saw  the  hos- 
pital where  Florence  Nightingale  did  such  a  noble 
work,  and  made  her  name  famous  and  revered. 
On  the  way  back  we  had  a  glorious  sunset  from 
the  boat,  which  we  all  enjoyed  much.  They  say 
it  is  unsafe  for  any  one  to  wander  about  the  hills 
beyond  Scutari  alone,  for  the  bandits  are  very 
likely  to  carry  you  away  for  a  ransom,  or  kill  you 
for  any  money  they  can  find  on  you.  Only  two 
days  before  we  were  there,  a  young  man  was  car- 
ried off,  and  his  friends  could  get  no  tidings  of 
him.  We  saw  no  one  who  suggested  the  idea  of 
a  bandit,  and  as  our  party  was  large  we  had  no 
fear. 

Thursday  morning  we  went  by  ferryboat  up 
the  Golden  Horn  to  Agoub,  which  was  the  first 
place  settled  by  the  Turks  after  getting  posses- 
sion of  the  country,  and  consequently  very  old. 
The  mosque  at  Agoub  is  where  the  corona- 
tion of  every  Sultan  takes  place,  and  is  such  a 
sacred  spot  that  none  but  Turks  are  ever  ad- 
mitted into  it.  In  the  afternoon  we  drove  around 
the  old  city  wall,  which  was  very  large  in  cir- 
cumference and  massive  and  substantial  in  its 
construction,  as  the  ruins  still  show,  and  saw  the 
gate  through  which  the  Turks  gained  an  entrance, 
and  so  the  victory,  too.  We  walked  and  climbed 
a  good  deal  that  day  in  going  to  the  tops  of  hills 
and  towers  for  views  of  the  city  and  its  surround- 
ings. We  saw  the  ceremony  of  the  Sultan  going 
to  church  on  Friday.  It  is  a  weekly  affair,  and 


(  59  ) 

takes  about  five  thousand  troops,  mounted  and 
on  foot,  to  get  him  there,  he  is  so  afraid  of  being 
assassinated  as  his  predecessor  Abdul-Aziz  was, 
and  spectators  cannot  get  near  enough  to  see  his 
august  countenance  excepting  with  a  strong  glass. 
We  saw  the  carriage  and  gorgeously  arrayed 
coachman  and  footman,  the  splendid  Arab  horses 
and  the  red  fez  of  the  Sultan,  but  not  the  man 
himself,  and  so  would  not  recognize  him  if  we 
did  see  him.  He  will  not  have  his  picture  taken 
for  fear  his  face  will  become  too  well  known.  I 
think  it  would  be  more  comfortable  to  occupy  a 
less  prominent  position  and  feel  more  certain  of 
the  good  intentions  of  mankind  in  general. 

In  the  afternoon  we  drove  into  the  country  to 
what  they  call  the  "  Sweet  waters  of  Europe," 
the  point  which  supplies  the  city  with  good  water. 
It  was  lovely  out  there,  with  beautiful  green  hills 
and  enormous  shade  trees,  and  there  is  a  palace 
with  fine  grounds  where  Abdul- Aziz  resided  with 
his  harem,  up  to  the  time  he  was  murdered,  four- 
teen years  ago.  We  went  all  through  the  palace 
and  grounds,  and  enjoyed  the  charming  spot  very 
much.  Saturday  morning  we  spent  in  getting 
ready  to  leave  Constantinople,  and  that  afternoon 
we  sailed  up  the  Bosphorus  and  took  in  the  beau- 
ties of  its  picturesque  shores,  with  verdant  hill- 
sides dotted  with  villas  and  palaces.  It  is  eighteen 
miles  long  and  very  wide  for  a  river,  perhaps  more 
than  a  mile  wide,  and  about  six  o'clock  we  were 
on  the  Black  Sea.  Next  morning  we  reached 
Varna,  and  then  took  train  to  Budapest,  excepting 


(  6o) 

where  we  had  to  cross  the  Danube  in  a  boat  at 
Rustchuk.  We  were  on  the  way  here  from  Con- 
stantinople from  Saturday  at  four  p.  M.  till  Mon- 
day at  2.30,  and  were  a  very  tired  party  when  we 
arrived.  A  good  night's  sleep  has  refreshed  us, 
however,  and  we  have  been  seeing  this  beautiful 
city  to-day.  It  has  450,000  inhabitants,  and  is 
called  a  second  Paris  for  its  general  beauty.  It 
has  fine  wide  streets,  well  paved  (which  is  more 
than  I  can  say  about  Constantinople),  splendid 
public  buildings,  fine  hotels  (of  which  this  one  is 
the  best  and  looks  on  the  Danube),  elegant  resi- 
dences, charming  gardens  and  parks,  and,  in  fact, 
all  that  goes  to  make  an  attractive  city. 

To-morrow  we  go  to  Vienna  and  will  be  there 
two  weeks.  I  was  sick  when  there  before  and 
saw  nothing  of  the  city.  You  will  see  our  rooms 
marked  on  the  picture  of  the  hotel ;  the  other 
pictures  give  an  idea  of  the  river  and  of  the  old 
palace  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  Now  we  are 
going  down  to  dinner,  as  it  is  nearly  seven  o'clock. 
We  leave  at  eight  in  the  morning  for  Vienna. 

Alice  and  Kate  join  me  in  sending  much  love 
to  you. 

Your  affectionate  daughter, 

LlZZIE  McMlLLAN. 
VIENNA,  AUSTRIA,  May  13,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

Yours  of  April  28th  reached  me  at  Vienna, 
May  1 2th.  It  is  about  the  best  time  any  of  my 
home  letters  have  made.  I  was  very  glad  to  learn 


(  61  ) 

of  your  continued  good  health,  and  to  hear  all 
the  news  from  your  stirring  little  town.  Eula's 
letter  gave  me  much  pleasure.  She  is  getting  to 
be  a  famous  letter-writer. 

I  parted  from  you  last  at  Budapest,  in  Hun- 
gary, after  giving  you  an  account  of  our  jour- 
ney from  Constantinople,  and  of  the  weariness 
of  mind  and  body  which  we  experienced  on  the 
way.  It  would  have  been  an  easy  journey  in 
America,  with  our  comfortable  sleeping  cars,  but 
over  here,  without  the  requisite  arrangements  for 
comfort,  night  travel  is  fatiguing. 

On  Wednesday,  yth,  at  8.40  we  were  on  the 
train  again,  bound  for  Vienna.  It  was  a  very 
pleasant  trip  of  six  hours,  and  through  a  pretty 
and  fertile  country.  In  Bulgaria,  Roumania,  and 
Hungary,  we  again  saw  women  working  in  the 
fields  for  the  first  time  since  leaving  Italy.  Hav- 
ing made  arrangements  by  letter  before  coming 
here,  we  found  comfortable  quarters  at  a  pension, 
or  boarding  house,  awaiting  us,  and  there  are 
some  charming  people  in  the  house.  I  was  much 
impressed  by  the  appearance  of  the  city.  It  is 
much  more  attractive  than  I  had  supposed,  and 
according  to  its  size  is  more  magnificent  than  Paris. 
The  public  buildings  are  immense,  massive,  and 
grand,  the  streets  are  wide  and  well  paved,  and 
the  churches  are  numerous  and  beautiful.  Vienna 
has  1,500,000  inhabitants,  or  a  little  more  than 
half  the  population  of  Paris. 

We  have  not  done  very  much  sight-seeing  yet, 
having  had  more  important  —  to  us  —  business 


on  hand/viz.,  getting  some  clothes  to  wear;  but 
we  have  made  a  commencement  and  will  know 
quite  a  good  deal  about  Vienna  and  its  surround- 
ings before  we  leave  it.  Sunday  morning  we  went 
to  the  Royal  Chapel  for  the  music,  and  were 
treated  to  a  German  sermon  first.  It  sounded 
well,  and  was  given  with  much  earnestness,  and 
even  if  I  did  not  understand  it,  was  quite  im- 
pressive. Then  we  had  an  orchestra,  and  some 
splendid  male  voices,  and  that  I  could  under- 
stand and  appreciate  very  much.  We  took  a 
drive  in  the  park  in  the  afternoon,  and  it  seemed 
as  if  the  whole  city  had  been  emptied  into  the 
streets,  either  walking  or  driving.  It  seemed  to 
me  as  if  I  had  never  seen  so  many  people  in  my 
life.  The  principal  avenue  in  the  park  is  three 
miles  long  and  has  a  double  row  of  splendid  horse- 
chestnuts  on  each  side  of  the  road,  and  these  were 
all  in  full  bloom.  It  was  a  beautiful  sight.  Yes- 
terday we  climbed  428  steps  to  the  top  of  the 
tower  of  St.  Stephen's  church,  and  looked  down 
on  Vienna  from  that  dizzy  height,  but  the  view 
did  not  compare  with  that  from  Galata  Tower  in 
Constantinople,  where  we  had  the  Sea  of  Mar- 
mora, the  Bosphorus,  and  the  Golden  Horn 
glistening  in  the  sunshine,  and  beautiful  green 
hills  and  sun-capped  mountains  in  the  distance. 
Last  evening  we  went  to  the  opera  and  enjoyed 
it  very  much,  especially  as  we  had  seen  nothing 
of  that  kind  since  leaving  Paris.  There  was  a 
thunderstorm  with  heavy  rain  produced  in  one 
scene,  and  it  was  so  real  that  I  felt  chilly,  as  if 


(  63  ) 

there  had  been  a  change  in  the  weather.  And 
now  I  will  tell  you  something  which  will  amuse 
you.  All  the  windows  here  are  double ;  one  set 
opens  out  and  the  other  opens  in,  and  there  are 
green  shades  between  the  two.  A  few  nights  ago 
I  felt  chilly  and  so  closed  one  of  my  windows, 
leaving  the  other  open.  In  the  night  I  woke  and 
firmly  believed  myself  taking  cold  from  the  other 
window  near  my  bed,  but  fell  asleep  again  while 
trying  to  make  up  my  mind  to  get  up  and  close 
it.  On  rising  the  next  morning  what  was  my  sur- 
prise and  amusement  to  find  the  outside  windows 
tightly  closed.  So  much  for  the  power  of  imagi- 
nation. 

To-day  we  have  been  to  see  the  Crown  jewels 
of  Austria,  which  certainly  are  as  magnificent  as 
any  I  ever  saw.  Some  of  the  diamonds  are  enor- 
mous and  most  beautifully  mounted.  There  are 
many  designs,  from  crowns  to  buttons,  and  it  is 
a  most  brilliant  display.  There  are  many  other 
costly  and  beautiful  things  there  in  gold  and 
silver,  but  the  jewels  are  the  principal  attraction, 
and  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get  near  the  case 
for  the  crowds  of  people  who  constantly  surround 
it  on  exhibition  days.  Afterwards  we  went  to  the 
crypt  of  the  Capuchin  church  to  see  the  royal 
vault  where,  among  many  relatives,  Maria  The- 
resa's splendid  tomb  is  conspicuous.  The  air  was 
so  cold  in  the  vault  that  we  were  glad  to  come 
out  into  the  sunshine  again,  to  get  some  warmth 
into  our  chilled  veins.  We  shall  be  busy  dur- 
ing the  rest  of  our  stay  here,  and  expect  to 


leave  on  Saturday  morning  for  Salzburg,  to  see 
the  famous  salt  mines ;  then  we  are  going  to 
Innsbruck,  and  from  there  to  see  some  palaces 
built  by  Ludwig,  the  insane  king  of  Bavaria.  We 
must  be  in  Oberammergau  on  the  24th  for  the 
Passion  Play,  which  takes  place  on  the  26th. 
After  that  a  week  in  Munich,  and  a  couple  of 
weeks  in  Dresden  will  bring  us  to  the  time  when 
we  must  start  for  Liverpool  to  meet  William  and 
Will. 

It  has  been  quite  warm  here  for  a  few  days, 
but  has  turned  cool  to-night.  I  shall  see  that  my 
windows  are  properly  closed  this  time.  Alice  and 
Kate  send  much  love,  with  mine.  Please  remem- 
ber me  very  cordially  to  all  friends.  As  ever, 
Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZlE   McMlLLAN. 
INNSBRUCK,  BAVARIA,  May  20,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

I  believe  your  letters  have  all  reached  me 
sooner  or  later,  and  the  last  one  found  me  still 
in  Vienna  on  the  1 6th,  just  as  we  were  leaving 
for  Salzburg,  in  Bavaria.  It  was  a  very  pleasant 
journey  of  about  seven  hours,  through  a  pictur- 
esque country,  mountainous,  and  yet  well  culti- 
vated, wherever  possible.  Sometimes  we  were 
near  the  Danube  for  quite  a  long  time,  and  when 
the  river  made  a  sudden  bend  we  went  straight 
on.  After  a  while  we  left  the  river  altogether  and 
wound  our  way  among  the  mountains  by  the  side 
of  mountain  streams  rushing  madly  along. 


(  65  ) 

Salzburg,  as  the  picture  shows  you,  is  charm- 
ingly situated,  and  a  beautiful  river  flows  through 
it,  while  the  castle  stands  high  above  the  town 
and  looks  down  on  some  lovely  scenery.  We 
made  an  excursion  by  carriage  from  there  to  see 
a  salt  mine,  and  it  was  our  first  experience  of 
going  into  a  mine  of  any  kind,  so  of  course  we 
all  enjoyed  it  very  much.  We  were  taken  into 
a  private  room,  on  our  arrival  at  the  mine,  and 
there  we  put  on  long  white  trousers,  a  black 
alpaca  coat  reaching  to  the  knees  and  belted  in 
at  the  waist,  and  a  cloth  cap.  Then  we  each  had 
a  lantern  and  followed  the  guide  in  single  file  into 
the  vaulted  passage  leading  into  the  mine.  The 
air  seemed  very  chilly  at  first,  but  the  exercise 
soon  warmed  us,  and  after  walking  along  va- 
rious passages  whose  walls  were  almost  pure 
salt,  we  climbed  120  steps,  and  then  began  to 
go  down  again.  In  one  place  we  had  to  slide 
down  an  inclined  plane,  and  then  we  found  how 
necessary  it  was  not  to  be  hampered  by  skirts. 
We  saw  the  salt  in  several  forms,  and  tasted  each 
to  be  sure  we  were  not  being  deceived,  and  were 
especially  interested  in  some  blocks  of  transparent 
salt,  the  color  of  amber.  There  was  a  lake  near 
the  lowest  chamber,  120  feet  long,  no  wide,  and 
3  deep,  and  we  went  across  it  in  a  boat.  There 
were  small  lamps  placed  at  regular  intervals  all 
around  it,  and  the  effect  in  that  dense  darkness 
was  weird  and  beautiful.  After  climbing  to  more 
than  the  level  of  the  entrance  we  mounted  a  nar- 
row car,  still  in  single  file,  and  were  carried  swiftly 


(  66) 

along  the  passages  until  we  were  finally  shot  our 
into  the  bright  sunlight,  and  our  visit  to  the  salt 
mine  was  over.  We  then  got  into  our  carriage 
again  and  drove  some  distance  to  Konig  See,  or 
King's  Lake,  a  narrow  but  very  long  lake  in  the 
heart  of  the  snow  mountains,  where  the  cliffs  rise 
precipitously  from  the  water  to  the  height  of 
several  thousand  feet.  In  one  part  of  the  lake 
there  is  a  wonderful  echo,  and  there  the  water  is 
676  feet  deep.  The  lake  itself  is  2000  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea,  and  the  snow  mountains 
looking  into  it  are  over  8000  feet  high.  One  of 
the  peasant  boatmen  fired  a  pistol,  and  it  rever- 
berated from  side  to  side  like  the  sound  of  heavy 
thunder.  It  was  a  most  enchanting  spot,  and  yet 
but  one  among  the  many  wonderfully  beautiful 
and  interesting  places  in  this  grand  country. 

Our  journey  from  Salzburg  to  Innsbruck  yes- 
terday was  one  of  continuous  delightful  surprises 
on  account  of  the  beauty  and  grandeur  of  the 
scenery.  We  needed  to  have  eyes  in  every  direc- 
tion, to  take  in  the  many  magnificent  panoramas 
unfolding  around  us  at  every  turn.  There  were 
splendid  white  mountains  with  their  weight  of 
perpetual  snow,  rising  abruptly  from  10,000  to 
12,000  feet  high;  there  were  noisy  rapids  and 
foamy  waterfalls  and  dashing  mountain  streams  • 
there  were  green  grassy  slopes  dotted  over  with 
Swiss  chalets  which  were  held  down  by  great 
stones  on  their  roofs,  and  there  were  valleys 
covered  with  the  most  gorgeous  wild  flowers.  In 
fact  it  seemed  as  if  nature  had  omitted  nothing  in 


(6?) 

that  one  day's  experience.  Our  eyes  were  tired 
out  with  looking  at  so  much  picturesque  and 
grand  scenery,  and  yet  we  could  not  bear  to  miss 
any  of  it. 

We  reached  Innsbruck  last  evening  at  seven, 
and  have  been  doing  some  sight-seeing  in  the 
town  this  morning.  We  have  seen  the  Court 
church  and  the  royal  palace,  both  of  which  are 
quite  interesting,  and  now  are  about  to  take  a 
drive  to  visit  an  old  castle  some  distance  from 
the  town,  and  to  see  something  of  the  country 
around  Innsbruck. 

We  are  having  perfect  weather,  but  warmer 
than  at  any  time  since  leaving  Smyrna.  I  am 
looking  on  mountains  covered  with  snow,  and 
we  are  surrounded  by  mountains,  although  not 
perpetually  snow-covered  ones.  In  a  few  weeks 
most  of  them  will  probably  look  sombre  enough. 

On  Thursday  we  start  by  carriage  for  a  visit  to 
the  famous  Bavarian  castles  built  by  King  Lud- 
wig,  who  was  called  the  crazy  king  of  Bavaria. 
They  are  said  to  be  wonderfully  beautiful  and 
original.  We  expect  to  reach  Oberammergau  on 
Saturday  evening,  where  we  will  remain  till  Tues- 
day, 2yth,  and  will  attend  the  first  representa- 
tion of  the  Passion  Play  on  Monday,  26th.  It  is 
played  every  ten  years,  and  is  considered  to  be  a 
most  wonderful  thing.  Crowds  of  foreigners  of 
all  nations  come  to  see  it,  and  having  seen  it  are 
full  of  enthusiasm  over  it.  Warm  remembrances 
to  all  relatives  and  friends. 

Your  loving  daughter, 

'LlZZlE   McMlLLAN. 


(  68  ) 

HOTEL  BAVARIA,  MUNICH, 
May  28,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

I  was  much  pleased  to  find  your  letters  of  May 
5th  and  I2th  awaiting  me  on  our  arrival  here,  yes- 
terday. It  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  me  to  learn  of 
your  continued  good  health.  Am  sorry  Charlie 
was  not  well,  but  hope  he  is  all  right  by  this  time. 
The  past  week  has  been  so  full  of  new  and  de- 
lightful experiences  that  it  seems  much  longer, 
and  yet  when  I  wrote  you  on  the  2Oth  we  were 
still  at  Innsbruck,  and  it  will  not  be  a  week  till 
to-morrow  morning  since  we  left  there. 

We  went  by  carriage  from  Innsbruck  to  Ober- 
ammergau,  and  were  three  days  on  the  road,  stop- 
ping for  meals  at  the  small  towns  on  the  way, 
and  spending  the  nights  in  little  country  inns, 
very  primitive  in  their  furnishings  but  exceed- 
ingly comfortable.  The  first  day  of  our  drive  we 
enjoyed  most  magnificent  scenery,  —  snow-clad 
mountains,  deep  gorges,  lovely  valleys,  marvel- 
ously  beautiful  green  lakes,  grand  old  ruins  of 
princely  castles,  and  above  all  a  glorious  sky, 
with  plenty  of  sweet  June  fresh  air. 

In  passing  Fernpass,  one  of  the  most  varied 
and  picturesque  spots  I  have  yet  seen,  we  were 
over  4000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  The 
second  day  we  started  at  seven  o'clock  and  thor- 
oughly enjoyed  the  dewy  freshness  of  the  morn- 
ing, as  well  as  the  delightful  surroundings.  Sharp 
snow  peaks  stood  up  in  bold  relief  against  the 
blue  sky,  while  the  valley  was  gorgeous  with  wild 


(69) 

flowers  of  deep  yellow,  brilliant  with  the  dew- 
drops,  and  hundreds  of  cream- colored  gentle- 
eyed  cows  were  feeding  on  the  sweet  clover  on 
the  hillsides.  That  day  we  visited  two  splen- 
did palaces  belonging  to  King  Ludwig  II.  One 
of  the  palaces  was  built  by  Maximilian  II.,  Lud- 
wig's  father,  and  has  a  fine  position  on  a  high 
point  overlooking  two  beautiful  lakes.  The  in- 
terior is  furnished  and  ornamented  after  the 
fashion  of  one  hundred  years  ago,  and  while 
handsome,  does  not  compare  favorably  with  the 
other  one,  built  under  the  direction  of  Ludwig 
himself.  The  situation  of  the  latter  is  far  finer, 
the  architecture  is  on  a  much  grander  scale,  and 
the  interior  is  magnificent,  with  marble  pillars 
and  fine  carving,  splendid  furniture  and  beautiful 
paintings.  The  whole  thing  is  in  the  most  per- 
fect taste,  but  the  building  is  not  yet  completed. 
They  are  trying  to  finish  it  according  to  King 
Ludwig's  plans,  but  will  probably  be  a  long  time 
doing  it.  The  outlook  from  all  the  windows  gives 
one  grand  glimpses  of  the  grandeur  of  nature,  and 
while  we  were  in  the  building  we  got  a  superb 
effect  of  nature  and  art  combined. 

The  great  tower  of  the  castle  stood  up  in  a 
lofty  manner,  bathed  in  sunshine,  while  behind 
it  great  black  clouds  rolled  in  dense  masses 
towards  the  north.  We  were  thankful  to  be 
under  such  perfect  shelter,  when  the  storm  broke, 
a  few  minutes  later,  and  the  rain  fell  in  torrents. 
An  hour  later  we  drove  through  the  valley  to- 
wards the  town  where  we  were  to  sleep,  with  the 


(  70) 

afternoon  sun  shining  as  brightly  as  ever,  and  all 
nature  smiling,  after  the  sudden  storm. 

Saturday,  our  third  and  last  day  in  the  Aus- 
trian Tyrol,  we  again  started  at  seven  o'clock, 
and  began  by  climbing  part  way  up  the  moun- 
tain, and  looking  backward  had  lovely  views 
on  every  hand.  Then  we  reached  a  lake,  very 
long,  narrow,  and  deep,  which  lies  between  the 
two  mountain  ranges  at  the  height  of  3146 
feet  above  the  sea.  The  water  was  like  a  mirror, 
it  was  so  smooth,  and  the  mountains  opposite 
were  reflected  so  clearly  in  the  lake  that  it  was 
hard  to  tell  where  the  mountains  began  and  the 
lake  ended.  Even  the  light  clouds  in  the  sky 
were  clearly  reflected  in  the  water.  The  carriage 
road  led  along  the  bank  on  one  side  of  the  lake 
only,  and  the  shore  shelved  up  so  suddenly  that 
we  seemed  to  be  looking  off  a  precipice,  for  the 
water  was  very  clear.  Before  noon  we  reached 
the  third  of  King  Ludwig's  palaces,  and  it  was  a 
marvel  of  beauty  in  delicate  carving,  heavy  em- 
broidery in  silver  and  gold,  and  a  profusion  of 
beautiful  things.  The  grounds  had  fountains, 
cascades,  arbors,  flowers,  forest  trees,  and  a  weird 
grotto  with  strange  effects  from  lights  of  differ- 
ent colors  sent  into  it  from  outside.  We  were 
charmed  with  all  we  saw,  and  after  spending  a  few 
hours  very  pleasantly  at  Linderhof,  and  having 
some  lunch,  we  continued  our  course  towards 
Oberammergau,  which  we  reached  early  in  the 
afternoon.  We  had  enjoyed  our  three  days  among 
the  mountains  so  much  that  we  were  actually 


sorry  to  find  the  journey  ended,  but  as  soon  as 
we  had  found  our  lodgings  and  become  settled, 
we  began  to  be  interested  in  the  village  and  the 
people,  and  to  look  forward  to  Monday  as  the 
climax  of  our  anticipations  of  months.  Fancy  a 
small  town  containing  only  190  houses,  having 
more  than  5000  people  come  down  upon  it  sud- 
denly, and  you  can  have  some  idea  of  what  Ober- 
ammergau  was  on  Sunday  and  Monday  last. 

The  Passion  Play  is  a  religious  performance  to 
the  people  of  Bavaria,  and  if  the  outside  world 
will  invade  them  at  the  time  the  play  takes  place, 
all  they  can  do  is  to  try  to  take  care  of  the 
strangers  as  well  as  they  can.  Many  people  have 
the  feeling  that  to  portray  the  life  and  death  of 
Christ  as  they  do  in  the  Passion  Play  is  sacrile- 
gious, but  after  having  seen  it,  all  such  idea  passes 
away.  The  whole  performance  is  more  solemn 
and  impressive  than  any  religious  service  I  ever 
saw,  and  it  must  be  something  wonderful  that 
would  keep  five  thousand  people  chained  to  their 
seats,  one  might  say,  for  eight  hours  and  more, 
without  one  symptom  of  fatigue  or  impatience. 
It  was  simply  the  most  wonderful  and  the  most 
impressive  thing  any  one  could  imagine,  and  I 
feel  that  one  is  better  and  not  worse  for  having 
seen  it.  I  cannot  attempt  to  describe  the  per- 
formance, on  paper  at  least,  but  will  try  to  give 
you  some  idea  of  it  when  we  meet. 

Yesterday  morning  we  came  to  Munich,  and 
expect  to  remain  here  a  week  before  going  on  to 
Prague  and  Dresden.  I  have  to-day  written  my 


(  7*  ) 

last  letter  to  Will  N.,  as  William  and  he  sail  in 
four  weeks  for  Liverpool,  where  we  expect  to  be 
at  that  time  to  meet  them  on  their  arrival.  I 
send  you  a  species  of  clover  which  I  have  found 
in  Austria  and  Bavaria.  It  is  such  a  delicate  shade 
of  yellow  that  the  fields  covered  with  it  are  very 
pretty.  It  is  quite  different  from  the  Sicilian 
clover,  in  size  and  shape,  but  must  belong  to  the 
clover  family,  as  its  general  characteristics  are  the 
same. 

To-day  we  have  been  to  see  the  carriages  of 
King  Ludwig,  and  I  assure  you  they  were  gorgeous 
enough,  in  gold  and  blue,  and  beautiful  embroid- 
ered cushions  and  robes.  While  here  we  are  going 
to  make  an  excursion  into  the  country  to  see  the 
fourth  and  last  of  this  luxurious  king's  palaces. 
Perhaps  it  is  as  well  he  died  before  he  quite 
ruined  the  country  with  his  extravagance. 

It  is  growing  late  and  I  am  feeling  the  effect 
of  so  much  traveling  and  sight-seeing,  so,  with 
much  love  to  you  and  to  the  household,  I  bid 
you  good-night. 

Your  loving  daughter, 

LIZZIE  McMiLLAN. 

DRESDEN,  June  10,  1890. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

It  gave  me  great  pleasure  to  receive  your  good 
letter  to-day,  and  to  be  assured  that  my  letters 
to  you  are  so  satisfactory.  Sometimes  it  was  not 
easy  to  write,  either  from  fatigue  or  from  lack  of 
time,  but  I  always  remembered  that  you  would 


(73  ) 

be  expecting  to  hear  from  me  at  the  regular  time, 
and  that  I  must  not  disappoint  you.  Your  sweet 
words  of  commendation  have  more  than  repaid 
me  for  any  trouble  I  have  taken,  for  you  know  I 
always  enjoy  praise  judiciously  bestowed. 

My  last  letter  was  from  Munich  on  the  jd, 
only  two  days  before  we  left  that  clean,  pretty 
old  town.  The  day  before  we  came  away  was  the 
fete  of  Corpus  Christi,  a  great  day  in  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  they  had  a  grand  procession  which 
was  almost  four  hours  in  passing  our  hotel.  We 
were  fortunate  in  having  front  rooms,  and  so  did 
not  have  to  go  into  the  street  at  all,  although  we 
did  have  to  rise  an  hour  earlier  than  usual  be- 
cause the  procession  started  soon  after  six  o'clock  ; 
and  when  we  heard  the  clash  of  drums  and  heard 
the  martial  tread  of  the  soldiers,  the  King's  Guard, 
how  could  we  resist  running  to  the  windows,  or 
help  being  enthusiastic  with  the  crowd  ?  It  was 
certainly  the  finest  parade  I  ever  saw,  papal  or 
otherwise,  and  was  well  worth  seeing.  Some  of 
the  gorgeous  court  carriages,  in  blue  and  silver 
with  white  satin  cushions  and  grandly  dressed 
outriders,  passed  our  windows,  but  we  couldn't 
see  who  was  in  them. 

Friday  morning  we  started  for  Dresden  and 
rather  dreaded  the  thirteen-hour  trip,  but  the  day 
was  so  cool  and  pleasant,  and  we  had  such  agree- 
able company  the  time  passed  swiftly  away,  and  by 
8.30  we  were  comfortably  settled  at  Hotel  Belle- 
vue.  It  is  the  same  hotel  where  we  spent  a  week 
just  seven  years  ago  this  month,  and  is  quite 


(74  ) 

homelike  to  me.  We  found  our  trunks  from 
Rome  had  arrived  safely,  and  the  Italians  had 
not  broken  them  open  or  robbed  us  of  our  valu- 
ables, as  we  were  led  to  expect.  We  felt  quite 
royal  when  our  three  trunks  came  home,  after  hav- 
ing lived  in  a  shawl  strap  for  nearly  three  months, 
but  are  becoming  accustomed  to  the  new  state  of 
things  already.  The  weather  has  been  cold  and 
November-like  ever  since  we  came,  and  there  has 
been  a  good  deal  of  rain.  Yesterday  was  lovely, 
and  to-day  has  been  pleasant  since  noon. 

Last  night  we  went  to  the  opera  and  enjoyed 
the  music  very  much.  To-day  we  have  been  to 
the  picture  gallery  ;  if  not  the  finest  gallery  in  the 
world,  there  are  certainly  few  to  compare  with  it. 
Raphael's  most  famous  Madonna  is  here,  and  it 
is  a  marvelous  picture.  It  makes  one  feel  better 
to  look  at  it,  as  if  the  painted  canvas  carried 
a  blessing  in  it  for  all. 

I  had  a  letter  from  William  to-day;  he  is 
already  away  from  St.  Louis,  and  one  week  from 
to-night  he  and  Will  will  be  on  the  ship  ready 
to  sail  in  the  early  morning.  We  are  expecting 
Hattie  Sawyer  here  on  Thursday  to  spend  a  week 
with  us,  and  are  saving  up  our  little  trips  and 
excursions  till  she  comes.  In  two  weeks  from 
now  we  will  be  in  Liverpool,  awaiting  the  arrival 
of  the  steamer  City  of  New  York.  Never  has 
she  borne  such  precious  cargo  as  will  then  stand 
on  her  deck,  and  if  prayers  and  blessings  will 
insure  her  safe  crossing,  then  they  will  have  a 
delightful  voyage. 


(75  ) 

Hoping  that  you  and  yours  are  in  good  health 
and  happy,  as  ever, 

Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

BETTWS-Y-COED,  NORTH  WALES, 

July  2,  1890. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

I  wrote  you  on  the  24th  from  Liverpool  and 
added  a  postscript  after  the  arrival  of  the  boys. 
On  the  26th  I  heard  from  you,  and  this  morning 
have  had  your  letter  telling  about  the  wedding 
and  Charlie's  departure  for  Glasgow.  We  will 
try  to  see  him  if  we  go  to  Scotland. 

On  the  26th  we  took  the  train  over  to  Ches- 
ter, only  an  hour  from  Liverpool,  and  found  a 
quaint  old  town  with  very  interesting  things  to 
see.  We  saw  the  house  where  the  Earl  of  Derby 
used  to  live,  and  the  attic  where  he  concealed 
himself  sixteen  weeks,  when  they  were  searching 
for  him  because  he  had  spoken  against  the  gov- 
ernment, —  also  the  old  Mill  on  the  Dee,  which 
is  the  foundation  of  the  song  called  "  The  Miller 
of  the  Dee."  Will  and  I  climbed  Phoenix  Tower, 
from  which  Charles  I.  witnessed  the  defeat  of 
his  army,  and  we  all  attended  service  in  the  fine 
old  cathedral,  built  in  1500  and  something.  Will 
and  I  also  walked  around  the  old  wall  of  the  ancient 
town,  about  one  and  three  quarters  miles  around, 
with  old  towers  and  outlooks  at  intervals.  Fri- 
day we  drove  out  to  Eaton  Hall,  the  country-seat 
of  the  Duke  of  Westminster.  He  owns  about 


(76  ) 

half  of  the  county  of  Cheshire,  and  has  a  magni- 
ficent park  of  splendid  old  forest  trees,  full  of 
game  of  various  kinds.  We  saw  plenty  of  deer, 
rabbits,  pheasants,  etc.,  and  his  stables  are  noted 
for  a  fine  breed  of  racers.  The  gardens  and  green- 
houses are  very  extensive  and  beautiful.  Apple 
and  pear  trees  were  trained  along  the  stone  walls 
and  were  made  into  hedges.  The  Hall  itself  is 
very  large,  finely  proportioned,  massive,  and  hand- 
some, and  the  interior  is  filled  with  a  choice  col- 
lection of  odd  and  beautiful  things.  Will  took 
several  pictures  of  the  house  and  grounds,  as  well 
as  of  the  home  of  William  E.  Gladstone,  which 
we  next  visited,  and  of  which  I  inclose  you  a 
photograph.  Gladstone's  land  joins  that  of  the 
Duke  of  Westminster,  and  the  park  has  250 
acres,  while  he  owns  about  5000  acres.  His  place 
is  in  Flint,  just  over  the  border  of  Wales,  and  is 
called  Hawarden  (Harden).  One  never  knows 
how  to  pronounce  the  English  proper  names,  and 
when  it  comes  to  Welsh  names,  it  is  just  as  well 
to  give  up  at  once.  We  could  not  go  through 
Gladstone's  house,  but  the  exterior  is  charming, 
and  it  is  finely  situated  on  a  high  point,  with  a 
splendid  outlook  all  over  the  grounds.  The  park 
is  very  rolling  and  picturesque,  with  old  trees  and 
great  green  slopes  of  lawn  and  meadow.  We  saw 
the  trunk  of  the  last  tree  the  great  statesman  cut 
down,  and  the  work  was  that  of  a  man  who  un- 
derstood his  business.  Saturday  we  came  over  to 
Bettws-y-Coed  (called  Betsy-coo-ed),  where  we 
mean  to  remain  until  next  Monday.  We  are 


(77) 

quite  surrounded  by  the  loveliest  Welsh  hills, 
with  the  river  Conway  at  our  feet,  and  this  same 
river  is  well  stocked  with  trout  and  salmon.  Will 
and  Mr.  McCool,  an  American  gentleman  who 
is  traveling  with  us  for  a  few  weeks,  have  gone 
out  fishing  this  morning,  and  I  expect  they  will 
return  with  a  full  basket.  Yesterday  we  had  a 
great  treat.  We  started  on  top  of  the  coach  at 
9.15  in  the  morning  and  got  back  at  6.45  in  the 
evening.  We  enjoyed  a  constant  succession  of 
beautiful  sights,  —  waterfalls,  gorges,  mountains, 
castles,  etc.,  with  occasionally  a  smart  sprinkle  of 
rain,  which  only  added  to  the  interest ;  and  in  the 
afternoon  drove  through  the  slate  quarry  district, 
where  everything  visible  was  connected  with 
the  work  of  getting  out  the  slate.  There  were 
huge  mountains  of  refuse  slate,  which  must  have 
been  a  great  many  years  in  attaining  their  present 
proportions.  It  reminded  me  of  the  lava  fields 
about  Vesuvius  and  Etna,  the  slate  being  almost 
the  same  color  as  the  lava.  There  were  eighteen 
persons  on  the  coach,  including  the  driver  and 
bugler,  and  as  it  was  the  first  run  of  the  coach 
for  this  season  the  inhabitants  turned  out-of-doors 
to  see  us  pass  by  as  soon  as  they  heard  the 
first  note  of  the  bugle.  At  one  place  where  we 
stopped  for  a  few  moments  about  two  hundred 
children  surrounded  the  coach.  Will  was  anxious 
to  get  a  picture  of  coach  and  children,  but  the 
sun  refused  to  shine,  and  it  could  not  be  done. 

We  are  not  quite  settled  in  our  minds  whether 
we  go  to  Norway  and  the  North  Cape,  or  to 


(  78  ) 

Norway  and  Russia.  So  I  cannot  give  you  any- 
thing very  definite  in  this  letter  as  to  our  route 
after  we  leave  here  on  the  yth.  Our  party  are 
all  well  and  in  fine  spirits,  and  all  unite  in  send- 
ing much  love  to  you.  It  is  very  good  of  you 
to  write  me  so  regularly,  and  I  appreciate  it 
much. 

Ever  your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

ADELPHI  HOTEL,  LIVERPOOL, 

July  8,  1890. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

I  wrote  you  on  the  idy  and  had  a  letter  from 
you  the  same  day.  On  the  4th  July  we  took 
another  long  drive,  but  not  on  a  coach,  to  see 
Carnarvon  Castle.  It  is  the  largest  castle  in  North 
Wales  and,  although  a  ruin,  is  a  magnificent  one. 
Edward  I.  built  this  castle  in  1284,  and  Edward 
II.  was  born  there.  We  saw  the  room,  and  it 
must  have  been  a  most  uncomfortable  one.  Will 
and  I  climbed  the  tower,  where  steps  still  remain, 
and  had  a  fine  view  of  the  sea  and  the  country 
about  the  castle.  He  took  his  camera  on  the  trip 
and  got  some  pictures  which  I  hope  will  turn  out 
well.  The  walls  of  Carnarvon  Castle  are  fifteen 
feet  thick  in  many  places,  and  surround  several 
acres  of  ground. 

Friday  morning  Will  and  I  walked  nearly  nine 
miles  before  lunch,  and  in  the  afternoon  we  all 
went  on  a  coach  ride  of  eleven  miles  and  came 
back  by  train.  The  country  is  beautiful,  with 


(79  ) 

so  many  picturesque  spots,  that  one  wants  to  live 
out-of-doors.  Then  the  air  is  so  fresh  and  bracing 
it  gives  a  person  new  vigor  and  an  enormous  ap- 
petite. The  table  at  Waterloo  Hotel,  Bettws-y- 
Coed,  was  very  fine,  one  of  the  best  we  have  found 
anywhere.  Saturday  afternoon  we  went  by  train 
over  to  the  seashore,  Llandudno.  It  took  only 
an  hour,  but  a  more  complete  change  of  scene  it 
would  be  hard  to  imagine,  from  the  lovely  wooded 
hills  and  green  fields  of  the  Conway  valley,  to 
the  open  sea,  with  no  shade,  and  nothing  green. 
The  beach  at  Llandudno  is  a  splendid  one, 
over  two  miles  long,  with  such  a  gentle  slope 
down  to  the  water  that  when  the  tide  was  out 
the  beach  was  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide. 
And  there  the  children  were  playing  in  the  sand 
or  riding  the  little  donkeys  and  having  a  good 
time  generally.  We  drove  over  to  see  the  ruins 
of  Conway  Castle,  which  was  also  built  by  Ed- 
ward I.  in  about  1284.  It  is  a  very  handsome 
ruin,  all  covered  with  ivy,  but  is  not  so  large  as 
Carnarvon.  It  was  so  cool  at  the  seaside  that  we 
required  fire  in  our  sitting-room  all  the  time,  and 
needed  as  many  blankets  at  night  as  in  winter. 
It  is  cold  still  here  to-day,  and  in  fact  we  have 
had  such  cool  weather  all  summer  it  is  hard  to 
realize  that  in  America  people  are  dying  from 
the  heat.  We  would  really  enjoy  a  little  warmer 
weather,  but  do  not  expect  to  have  any  until  our 
return  from  Norway.  We  left  Llandudno  yester- 
day morning  and  came  to  Liverpool  as  the  best 
point  from  which  to  start  for  Hull.  Here  at  the 


(  80  ) 

Adelphi  Hotel  they  are  famous  for  their  turtle 
soup.  They  get  the  turtles  from  the  West  In- 
dies, over  one  hundred  at  a  time,  and  many  of 
the  huge  creatures  weigh  over  three  hundred 
pounds.  We  went  downstairs  and  saw  them  in 
the  tanks  where  they  are  kept.  There  were 
about  fifty  in  the  water,  and  it  was  quite  a  sight, 
as  some  of  them  were  three  feet  long,  without 
the  head  being  visible.  It  poured  all  yesterday 
afternoon  and  night,  but  seems  to  be  clearing 
up  this  morning.  We  start  for  Hull  this  after- 
noon at  3.05,  and  expect  to  reach  there  at  seven 
o'clock,  and  our  steamer  sails  for  Bergen  at  ten 
p.  M.  I  dare  say  we  will  feel  rather  forlorn  to- 
morrow, but  it  will  not  be  a  long  trip,  so  we  will 
be  able  to  stand  it.  We  hope  to  arrive  at  Bergen 
at  latest  on  Thursday  morning,  and  on  Friday 
will  take  another  steamer  for  the  North  Cape. 
Mr.  McCool,  the  gentleman  who  went  to  Wales 
with  us,  has  been  in  London  for  a  day  or  two, 
but  we  will  find  him  waiting  for  us  at  Hull,  to 
accompany  us  through  Norway. 

Now  I  must  close  and  finish  my  packing. 
All  wish  to  send  much  love  to  you,  in  which  I 
join  cordially. 

Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE  McMlLLAN. 

EIDE,  NORWAY,  July  15,  1890. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

My  last  letter  to  you  was  from  Liverpool  on 
the  8th,  just  as  we  were  about  to  start  for  Nor- 


way.  We  went  to  Hull  by  train,  and  there  em- 
barked on  the  steamer  Eldorado  for  Bergen.  The 
moment  we  left  the  harbor  our  troubles  began, 
for  the  North  Sea  is  usually  very  rough,  and  that 
trip  was  no  exception  to  the  rule.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  was  worse  than  usual,  and  we  were  all  so 
sick  that  our  enthusiasm  about  the  North  Cape 
vanished,  and  on  our  arrival  at  Bergen  on  Thurs- 
day afternoon,  we  gave  up  our  staterooms  on  the 
Cape  steamer  and  concluded  to  see  Norway  by 
land.  However,  before  the  time  came  for  the 
boat  to  leave  Bergen,  Mr.  McCool  and  Will  had 
decided  they  still  wanted  to  see  the  midnight  sun, 
and  they  left  us  on  Friday  evening.  I  am  very 
sorry  to  disappoint  you  about  descriptions  of  that 
far  north  region,  but  under  the  circumstances  it 
could  not  be  helped. 

We  found  Bergen  a  rather  picturesque  old 
town  of  50,000  inhabitants,  situated  on  several 
fjords  (fee-ords)  and  seeming  almost  like  several 
islands,  well  built  up.  The  German  fleet  was  at 
anchor  there,  but  the  Emperor  and  his  escort  ship 
had  just  left  the  day  before.  The  Emperor  is 
doing  Norway,  and  keeps  just  a  few  days  ahead 
of  us.  William  says  it  is  just  as  well,  as  it  would 
unsettle  the  minds  of  the  Norwegians  to  have  so 
much  royalty  in  the  same  town.  We  are  pretty 
well  north,  even  here,  as  it  is  light  all  night.  The 
twilight  lasts  till  about  one  o'clock  and  then  day 
begins.  At  any  time  in  the  night  I  can  see  to 
read  ordinary  print,  and  in  Bergen  people  were 
about  the  streets  all  night  long. 


(  82  ) 

Norway  is  made  up  of  mountains  and  water, 
which  gives  beautiful  scenery  but  poor  farms.  Of 
course  fishing  is  one  of  the  principal  occupations 
of  the  people,  and  the  salmon  abounding  in  the 
fjords  are  large  and  delicious.  We  have  simple 
food,  but  everything  is  well  cooked,  and  the  air 
is  so  bracing  that  no  one  can  complain  of  lack 
of  appetite.  Salmon  for  breakfast,  dinner,  and 
supper,  and  after  a  week  of  it  we  are  still  fond  of 
it.  Saturday  afternoon  we  came  over  by  train  to 
Vossevangen,  to  spend  Sunday.  The  scenery  on 
the  way  was  charming,  as  we  ran  a  long  way  by 
the  side  of  a  beautiful  fjord,  with  fine  mountain 
ranges  on  every  hand.  The  day  was  beautiful, 
and  the  coloring  in  mountain  and  sky  was  won- 
derful. Sunday  morning  we  went  to  the  Norwe- 
gian Lutheran  church,  and  heard  a  very  earnest 
sermon,  which  was  interesting,  even  if  we  could 
not  understand  a  word  of  it.  The  peasants  were 
there  in  great  numbers  and  were  very  devout  as 
well  as  picturesque.  Their  costumes  were,  on  the 
whole,  rather  simple,  and  as  a  rule  not  becoming, 
but  the  red  waists  over  the  white  blouses  were 
quite  pretty. 

In  front  of  the  hotel  at  which  we  stayed  was  a 
lovely  little  lake,  and  just  beyond  were  moun- 
tains covered  with  snow,  which  were  quite  daz- 
zling in  the  sunlight.  Yesterday  morning  we 
drove  for  three  hours  over  such  a  beautiful  pass 
to  this  place,  called  Eide  (Ida),  and  on  the  way 
saw  a  splendid  waterfall,  next  to  the  finest  one  in 
Norway.  It  is  about  five  hundred  feet  high  and 


has  an  immense  volume  of  water.  From  here  we 
took  boat  up  the  Hardanger- fjord,  which  is  very 
large  and  has  many  branches.  The  whole  way 
was  one  succession  of  grand  sights.  One  splen- 
did mountain  range  has  a  glacier  which  extends  for 
fifty  miles,  and  from  the  boat  we  could  plainly 
see  the  huge  ice  fields  and  great  masses  of  snow, 
and  at  several  points  the  snow  reached  almost  to 
the  water's  edge.  The  cliffs  and  ravines  are  full  of 
foamy  waterfalls  of  greater  or  less  dimensions,  and 
we  were  quite  astonished  to  see  trees  and  other 
verdure  almost  up  to  the  glaciers.  Sometimes  it 
seemed  as  if  a  large  patch  of  snow  had  been 
placed  in  the  midst  of  a  green  field.  Often  we  saw 
a  patch  of  cultivated  ground  seemingly  in  an  al- 
most inaccessible  spot  on  the  mountain-side,  with 
a  house  and  other  buildings,  showing  it  was  the 
home  and  consequently  the  castle  of  some  worthy 
peasant.  To-day  the  boat  stopped  an  hour  at  a 
little  village,  to  enable  the  passengers  to  take  a 
drive  along  a  wonderful  road  by  the  cliff,  on  the 
very  edge  of  the  lake.  The  funny  two-wheeled 
vehicles  they  use  so  much  here  hold  two  people 
besides  the  driver,  who  sits  perched  up  on  a  little 
seat  at  the  back,  and  the  mountain  ponies  need 
no  urging  to  go.  We  had  quite  an  exciting  drive, 
and  enjoyed  the  magnificent  surroundings,  the 
novel  mode  of  travel,  and  the  change  from  the 
boat.  The  sun  came  out  brightly,  for  the  occa- 
sion, too,  and  so  nothing  was  lacking  for  our  en- 
joyment. The  weather  in  Norway  this  summer 
has  been  very  wet  and  cold.  We  need  all  our 


warm  clothing  as  well  as  waterproofs  and  umbrel- 
las, but  as  some  of  the  finest  effects  are  from  the 
clouds  and  shadows,  we  do  not  mind  some  damp- 
ness occasionally.  It  does  not  rain  all  the  time, 
but  it  makes  us  duly  appreciate  the  sunshine 
when  it  comes.  We  mean  to  drive,  mostly,  for 
the  next  week,  until  we  reach  Christiania  on  the 
22d,  and  about  that  time  we  expect  to  meet  Will 
and  our  friend,  at  the  same  place,  as  they  will 
take  train  across  the  country  to  join  us  after  hav- 
ing seen  the  North  Cape.  On  reaching  Chris- 
tiania I  hope  to  find  a  letter  from  you,  and  to 
learn  that  you  still  continue  in  good  health.  We 
have  had  very  fine  strawberries  in  Norway,  as  well 
as  in  England.  I  have  had  some  as  large  as  a  large 
wineglass,  which  were  very  sweet  and  delicious. 

Warm  regards  to  all  my  friends  in  Aylmer, 
with  much  love  to  you.  Your  devoted  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

William  as  well  as  Mrs.  Fisher  and  Kate  send 
a  great  deal  of  love  to  you. 

CHRISTIANIA,  NORWAY,  July  23,  1890. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

Yours  of  July  ist  came  yesterday,  and  we  were 
indeed  much  interested  to  know  that  you  were 
well  up  to  that  time.  The  bracing  air  of  Norway 
and  the  out-of-door  life  we  are  leading  is  doing 
us  all  a  great  deal  of  good.  We  were  delighted 
with  our  trip  across  the  country,  which  was  a  per- 
fect success  in  every  way.  Even  the  weather 
smiled  on  us,  and  for  five  days  we  had  a  clear 


sky,  bright  sunshine,  and  plenty  of  pure  moun- 
tain air.  I  wrote  you  last  from  Eide  at  the 
head  of  the  Hardanger-fjord.  From  there  we 
drove  back  to  Vossevangen  (where  we  spent  Sun- 
day i  Jth),  and  the  same  afternoon  drove  to  Stal- 
heim,  a  point  overlooking  a  wonderful  ravine  with 
two  splendid  waterfalls  to  be  seen  as  one  goes 
down  the  mountain.  We  spent  the  night  at  Stal- 
heim,  and  next  day  walked  down  the  zigzag  car- 
riage road,  which  makes  sixteen  turns  on  the  way 
down,  into  the  valley  below,  and  then,  getting  into 
our  carriage,  drove  to  Gudvangen  (Good-vang-en), 
and  there  we  took  boat  on  the  Sohne-fjord,  and 
for  six  hours  were  between  towering  mountain 
ranges  from  4000  to  5000  feet  high,  with  snow 
peaks  visible  in  the  distance  nearly  all  the  time. 
We  saw  a  waterfall  that  day  falling  in  foaming 
cascades  3000  feet.  This  fjord  is  said  to  be  4000 
feet  deep,  and  some  of  them  are  supposed  to  be 
as  deep  as  the  mountains  are  high.  A  fjord  is  an 
inlet  from  the  sea,  and  is  found  only  in  Norway. 
The  weather  had  been  very  cold  ever  since  our 
arrival  in  Norway,  till  about  this  time,  when  the 
air  began  to  grow  softer,  and  as  we  came  east- 
ward we  found  it  much  warmer.  Still,  it  has  not 
been  hot  any  of  the  time,  and  no  one  could  de- 
sire a  more  perfect  temperature  than  we  are  now 
enjoying.  Thursday  night  we  spent  at  Lasrdal- 
soren  (Lare-dol-suren),  a  village  on  a  branch  of 
the  Sohne-fjord.  It  was  such  a  quaint  little  place, 
with  very  small  hewn-log  houses,  with  the  fun- 
niest little  windows  and  turf  roofs,  on  which 


(  86  ) 

masses  of  bright  yellow  moss  and  gay-colored 
wild  flowers  grew  and  bloomed  luxuriantly.  From 
there  we  began  our  drive  of  three  days  over  the 
country,  changing  horses  every  ten  miles,  dining 
at  one  posting  station  and  sleeping  at  another, 
walking  up  hills  and  down  hills  when  they  were 
very  steep,  and  enjoying  the  magnificent  moun- 
tain scenery  from  hilltop  and  valley  until  we 
reached  Christiania  on  Monday  evening,  2ist. 

The  driving  in  Norway  would  suit  you  exactly, 
because  the  horses  walk  up  hill  and  run  down, 
and  they  are  so  surefooted  that  one  need  have 
no  fear  of  accidents,  unless  from  the  carelessness 
of  some  one  who  may  be  driving.  Small  boys  are 
often  the  drivers,  but  they  can  be  trusted  even 
when  the  traveler  cannot.  Mr.  Bennett,  who 
controls  most  of  the  posting  tours  through  Nor- 
way, and  is  a  friend  of  Mrs.  Fisher  and  lives  in 
Christiania,  yesterday  took  us  to  drive  and  to 
take  tea  at  his  home,  and  the  whole  family  were 
very  cordial  in  their  reception  of  us.  Christiania 
is  quite  a  pretty  town  of  150,000  inhabitants,  and 
has  many  beautiful  spots  about .  it.  Still,  we  en- 
joyed much  more  the  novelty  of  driving  through 
the  country  than  being  in  a  city.  We  leave  this 
p.  M.  for  Stockholm,  Sweden,  and  there  we  expect 
to  welcome  Mr.  McCool  and  Will,  who  will  arrive 
there  from  the  North  Cape  about  the  same  time 
we  will  reach  there  from  Christiania.  We  hear 
that  the  two  travelers  had  a  very  successful  view 
of  the  midnight  sun,  and  we  are  now  anxious  to 
see  them  and  hear  all  about  their  trip. 


(  87) 

We  are  now  going  to  lunch,  and  after  that  to 
the  train,  so  I  cannot  write  you  a  very  long  letter 
this  time.  I  have  only  written  one  letter  since 
sending  my  last  to  you.  We  have  had  our  time 
too  fully  occupied  for  letter-writing  to  find  a 
place  in  our  days.  Our  love  to  all  friends,  and 
to  yourself  in  particular. 

Your  devoted  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

HOTEL  DE  FRANCE,  July  29,  '90. 
ST.  PETERSBURG,  RUSSIA. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

My  last  letter  to  you  was  on  the  sjd,  from 
Christiania.  We  had  a  very  pleasant  time  there 
and  received  much  attention  from  the  Bennett 
family.  They  all  were  down  to  the  train  to  see 
us  off  on  Wednesday  afternoon,  and  presented 
each  one  of  us  ladies  with  a  handsome  bouquet 
of  hothouse  flowers.  Our  journey  to  Stockholm 
by  train  was  not  very  comfortable.  What  they 
call  sleeping  cars  over  here  are  generally  only 
places  where  one  can  lie  down,  but  neither  bed- 
clothes nor  pillows  are  provided,  so  you  can 
imagine  how  tiresome  a  night  journey  is  in  this 
country.  And  yet  they  talk  a  good  deal  about 
their  comfortable  sleeping  cars. 

We  reached  Stockholm  about  nine  o'clock  on 
Thursday  morning,  24th,  and  found  a  beautiful 
city,  built  on  the  mainland  and  numerous  islands, 
with  a  great  deal  of  beauty  in  its  surroundings  as 
well  as  in  its  handsome  streets,  magnificent  build- 


(  88  ) 

ings,  and  lovely  parks.  It  has  a  population  of 
227,000,  and  there  is  a  great  deal  to  interest  a 
stranger  in  the  city.  It  is  also  called  the  Venice 
of  the  North,  on  account  of  there  being  so  much 
water  about  it.  We  were  there  two  days,  but  did 
no  regular  sight-seeing,  outside  of  taking  a  drive 
each  day  and  going  to  the  top  of  the  high  ele- 
vator for  a  view  of  the  city. 

Thursday  evening  Mr.  McCool  and  Will  ar- 
rived from  their  trip  to  the  North  Cape,  and 
they  had  such  a  fine  time  that  I  was  very  sorry 
to  have  missed  it.  They  saw  the  midnight  sun, 
most  successfully,  three  times.  It  must  have 
seemed  very  odd,  if  one  could  realize  it,  to  have 
the  sun  shining  as  brightly  at  midnight  as  at 
noon.  The  only  difference  was  in  the  location  of 
the  sun.  Will  intends  giving  you  a  description  of 
it,  and  you  will  enjoy  it  more  in  his  own  words. 

On  Friday  evening  we  left  Stockholm  by 
steamer  for  St.  Petersburg.  This  time  the  sea 
was  kind  to  us,  and  the  whole  trip  was  most 
enjoyable.  On  sailing  out  from  Stockholm  we 
had  a  splendid  view  of  the  city  and  a  glorious  sun- 
set as  well.  The  Baltic  is  full  of  islands  along  the 
route  to  St.  Petersburg,  so  we  were  in  sheltered 
water  most  of  the  way,  and  the  Gulf  of  Finland 
has  a  good  many  islands  too.  Saturday  evening 
at  six  o'clock  we  reached  Helsingfors,  in  Fin- 
land, and  spent  three  hours  there.  It  is  a  hand- 
some town  of  70,000,  and  has  a  very  strong  for- 
tress. As  Finland  belongs  to  Russia,  it  was  our 
first  landing  on  Russian  ground.  We  drove  all 


(  89  ) 

over  the  city  in  a  funny  little  vehicle  which  they 
call  the  drosky,  and  anything  more  ridiculous 
than  the  whole  turnout  it  would  be  hard  to 
find.  The  driver  sits  in  front,  on  his  high  seat, 
wearing  a  short-waisted  coat  with  a  long  skirt 
which  gives  him  a  very  clumsy  figure,  while  his 
low-crowned  and  broad  chimney-pot  hat  defies 
description.  The  low  seat  behind  carries  two  very 
uncomfortably,  and  the  horse  has  a  large  wooden 
hoop  over  his  head  which  is  used  to  support  the 
shafts.  They  use  the  same  vehicle  here,  but  have 
other  carriages  as  well.  We  often  ride  in  a  drosky, 
though,  for  the  amusement  of  it.  Sunday  morn- 
ing at  ten  we  passed  Cronstadt  and  were  much 
interested  in  seeing  its  wonderful  fortifications, 
and  at  12.30  sailed  into  the  harbor  of  St.  Peters- 
burg through  the  canal  of  several  miles'  length, 
which  was  built  a  few  years  ago,  to  enable  large 
ships  to  come  into  the  city  without  unloading. 

We  have  already  been  out  to  Peterhof  to  see 
the  royal  palace  where  Alexander  II.  lived,  and 
were  shown  through  the  various  rooms,  which 
were  beautiful  with  gilt  and  white  decorations  and 
magnificent  pictures.  The  grounds  are  very  ex- 
tensive and  there  are  a  great  many  fountains  in 
different  designs,  which  played  during  the  even- 
ing. Crowds  of  people  were  there  on  foot  and  in 
carriages,  amusing  themselves  and  listening  to  the 
two  bands,  one  of  them  performing  all  the  time. 
We  saw  the  brother  and  uncle  of  the  Czar,  but 
the  Emperor  and  Empress  are  not  in  the  city  at 
present,  so  we  have  to  be  content  with  seeing 


(  90) 

some  of  their  palaces.  Just  now  great  prepara- 
tions are  being  made  to  celebrate  the  birthday  of 
the  Empress,  which  occurs  next  Sunday.  Accord- 
ing to  Russian  count  this  is  the  iyth  day  of  July, 
instead  of  the  29th,  as  their  date  is  twelve  days 
later  than  ours. 

We  left  Peterhof  at  ten  p.  M.  and  reached  home 
before  midnight.  It  would  have  been  light  even 
without  the  aid  of  the  moon,  and  we  found  it 
hard  to  realize  that  it  was  so  late.  We  realized  it 
more  yesterday  morning  when  it  was  time  to  rise. 
We  have  engaged  a  guide  to  show  us  the  sights, 
as  here,  where  almost  nothing  but  Russian  is 
spoken  outside  of  the  hotels  and  shops,  we  feel 
perfectly  helpless  without  one. 

Yesterday  morning  we  visited  the  Hermitage, 
or  picture  gallery,  which  was  built  by  Catherine 
II.,  and  is  a  magnificent  building  filled  with  gems 
of  art  and  has  many  relics  of  Peter  the  Great  and 
of  Catherine  II.  The  jewels  are  superb,  but  it 
seems  a  pity  that  so  much  wealth  should  lie  idle, 
when  there  is  so  much  suffering  and  poverty  in 
the  country.  In  the  afternoon  we  went  to  one  of 
the  churches  to  hear  the  music,  and  drove  in  the 
evening. 

St.  Petersburg  was  founded  by  Peter  the  Great 
in  1703,  and  now  has  1,000,000  population.  It  is 
an  enormous  city,  well  built,  well  paved,  with  much 
of  interest  to  be  seen.  We  shall,  however,  only 
do  a  little  in  the  way  of  seeing  it,  as  three  days 
will  scarcely  make  much  impression  when  there 
is  so  much  to  be  seen.  To-day  we  will  visit  some 


churches,  the  burial  place  of  Peter  the  Great,  etc., 
and  end  the  day  with  another  drive.  We  have 
charming  weather  and  warmer  than  we  have  yet 
experienced,  but  not  hot  by  any  means.  To- 
morrow night  we  leave  for  Moscow  and  return 
to  St.  Petersburg  about  the  end  of  the  week,  on 
our  way  to  Paris.  They  are  waiting  now  to  go 
^ut  to  St.  Isaac's,  the  largest  and  finest  church 
..ere,  so  I  must  close.  Love  to  one  and  all  from 
all. 

Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

Noon,  July  2 9th.  Have  just  received  yours 
of  July  yth,  and  was  delighted  to  hear  that  all  was 
well  with  you  up  to  that  date. 

Moscow,  RUSSIA,  August  4,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

I  had  a  nice  letter  from  you  on  July  29th,  the 
same  day  on  which  I  wrote  you.  We  were  still 
in  St.  Petersburg  at  that  time,  and  while  we  were 
there  I  climbed  to  the  top  of  the  dome  on  the 
cathedral  of  St.  Isaac's  and  saw  St.  Petersburg 
five  hundred  feet  below  me,  spread  out  like  a 
great  picture.  None  of  our  party  would  go  with 
me  but  our  guide,  and  they  lost  a  good  deal  by 
missing  that  splendid  panorama  of  the  city.  I 
would  not  have  missed  it  for  a  great  deal. 

We  started  for  Moscow  on  Wednesday  night, 
and  reached  this  fascinating  old  city  on  Thursday 
morning.  We  actually  had  a  real  sleeping  car, 
and  passed  a  very  comfortable  night.  Moscow 


covers  a  good  deal  of  ground,  has  a  population 
of  880,000,  and  is,  next  to  Constantinople,  the 
most  picturesque  place  I  ever  have  seen.  There 
are  over  four  hundred  churches,  and  each  church 
has  from  one  to  seven  domes,  while  no  two 
domes  on  any  church  are  alike.  Many  of  these 
domes  are  gilded,  and  glitter  in  the  sunshine  like 
burnished  gold.  We  reached  here  about  ten 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  that  day  visited  the 
palace  (which  was  full  of  beautiful  and  interesting 
relics  of  royalty  from  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great) 
and  five  churches,  and  drove  about  twenty 
miles  to  get  the  view  of  Moscow  from  Sparrow 
Hills,  —  the  same  which  Napoleon  had  in  1812. 
After  seeing  the  view  we  did  not  wonder  that  the 
great  general  wanted  to  capture  the  city.  Friday 
we  did  a  good  deal  of  sight-seeing  ;  went  to  the 
church  where  the  Czars  are  baptized  and  married, 
to  another  church  where  they  are  crowned,  and 
to  still  another  where  they  are  buried.  Then  to 
an  odd  old  church  which  Napoleon  attempted  to 
destroy  by  fire,  but  did  not  succeed  on  account 
of  its  fireproof  character,  probably,  although  the 
people  declared  it  was  a  miraculous  intervention 
from  heaven  which  saved  it.  At  any  rate,  finding 
it  would  not  kindle  properly,  he  used  it  for  a 
stable  instead,  and  the  quaint  edifice,  with  its 
eleven  towers  all  of  different  sizes  and  colors, 
still  remains  a  prominent  landmark  in  the  city. 
The  favorite  pavement  here  is  cobble-stones,  and 
we  have  not  lacked  for  exercise  since  coming  here, 
as  the  distances  are  so  great  that  we  are  obliged 


(  93  ) 

to  drive  a  good  deal.  Then  the  noise  is  terrible, 
but  one  can  get  accustomed  to  almost  anything, 
and  we  do  not  mind  the  roughness  nor  the  noise 
nearly  so  much  as  at  first. 

Friday  night  we  went  over  to  the  fair  at  Nijni 
Novgorod,  about  two  hundred  miles  further  east. 
We  had  a  car  called  a  sleeper,  but  the  company 
do  not  supply  bedding,  so  we  took  our  own  pil- 
lows and  blankets  and  were  very  comfortable. 
We  spent  all  day  Saturday  doing  the  fair  and  the 
town,  which  is  quite  an  important  one  of  60,000 
inhabitants  at  the  junction  of  the  Volga  and  Oka 
rivers,  and  came  back  in  the  same  car  Satur- 
day night.  We  were  quite  willing  to  keep  pretty 
quiet  yesterday,  but  in  the  evening  we  started  to 
drive  out  to  Petroski  Park,  where  the  illumina- 
tions and  fireworks  were  to  take  place  in  honor 
of  the  Empress,  whose  birthday  it  was.  It  was 
cloudy  when  we  started,  but  grew  blacker  and 
blacker,  and  the  thunder  grew  louder  and  nearer 
while  the  lightning  flashed  constantly.  Finally 
we  decided  to  turn  back,  and  just  as  we  had 
started  on  our  return  trip  the  storm  broke. 
Such  a  wild  drive  I  never  had.  Our  coachman 
drove  furiously,  and  as  every  other  driver  was 
doing  the  same,  we  expected  every  instant  to 
assist  in  a  collision.  How  we  managed  to  get 
through  the  mass  of  vehicles  unharmed  I  cannot 
imagine  ;  but  we  did,  and  were  so  well  protected 
in  the  carriage  that  we  were  not  damp  at  all.  The 
wind  blew  down  the  arches  and  illuminations  in 
the  park  and  severely  injured  a  number  of  people, 


(94) 

so  I  am  glad  we  did  not  go  any  further.  This 
morning  was  lovely  after  the  storm,  and  not  so 
warm  as  it  was  yesterday.  Still,  we  have  had  no 
warm  weather  anywhere  this  summer,  and  per- 
haps we  feel  the  heat  now  more  than  those  who 
have  become  accustomed  to  it.  To-day  we  have 
been  to  the  Treasury,  and  have  seen  the  corona- 
tion robes  of  many  of  the  Czars,  as  well  as  their 
thrones  as  far  back  as  Peter  the  Great.  Diamond 
studded  crowns  and  jeweled  swords,  gold  and 
silver  plate  of  immense  value,  old  armor  and 
coats  of  mail,  old  state  carriages,  etc.,  were  shown 
us,  which  were  all  most  interesting,  but  the  car 
on  runners,  which  was  Empress  Elizabeth's  car- 
riage for  traveling  between  St.  Petersburg  and 
Moscow,  was  the  most  curious.  It  must  have 
had  a  good  many  powerful  horses  to  carry  it 
along,  and  many  armed  men  to  guard  it  on  the 
way.  Both  here  and  at  St.  Petersburg  are  seen 
the  most  superb  black  horses.  We  have  even  had 
the  pleasure  of  driving  behind  some  splendid  ones 
ourselves,  and  have  bowled  along  at  a  dizzy  pace  ; 
and  here  the  crowning  beauty  of  the  horse,  the 
mane  and  tail,  are  not  taken  away  from  him.  We 
call  it  a  barbarous  custom  to  deprive  an  animal 
of  its  tail,  and  yet  I  do  not  believe  barbarians 
ever  did  such  a  cruel  and  ridiculous  thing. 

The  country  about  here  has  no  special  charac- 
teristics, and  as  we  were  on  the  train  it  seemed  to 
me  as  if  I  might  be  in  Canada  instead  of  in  Russia, 
as  far  as  the  general  appearance  of  the  country  was 


(95) 

concerned.  They  grow  a  good  deal  of  wheat, 
and  the  forests  are  mostly  pine,  as  far  as  I  have 
noticed.  The  countrymen  look  very  picturesque 
as  they  are  seen  working  in  the  fields,  wearing, 
generally,  bright  red  shirts ;  but  distance  lends 
enchantment,  as  on  close  inspection  they  are  not 
at  all  attractive  looking.  This  afternoon  Will  and 
I  climbed  to  the  top  of  Ivan's  tower,  which  is 
about  the  centre  of  the  city.  Moscow  looked 
beautiful  from  there,  with  its  thousands  of  domes, 
and  the  Moscow  River  twisting  about  and  spanned 
here  and  there  by  fine  picturesque  bridges.  We 
counted  thirty-four  bells  of  various  sizes  in  the 
tower,  the  largest  of  which  weighs  19,200  pounds. 
This  evening  we  are  going  for  a  long  drive  to 
one  of  the  parks,  and  to-morrow  at  noon  we 
leave  for  Warsaw,  where  we  will  probably  spend 
only  one  day,  on  our  way  to  Paris.  We  expect 
to  be  in  Paris  by  Saturday,  and  after  that  our 
hard  traveling  will  be  over. 

Russia  is  a  very  interesting  country,  and  I  am 
so  glad  to  have  seen  something  of  it.  Ever  since 
I  was  a  child  it  has  been  my  ambition  to  visit  St. 
Petersburg,  and  now  that  it  is  an  accomplished 
fact  I  can  scarcely  realize  it. 

Will  be  very  glad  to  hear  from  you  on  our 
arrival  in  Paris,  and  hope  all  is  well  with  you 
and  all  my  friends. 

Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

All  the  family  join  me  in  sending  love  to  you. 


(  96  ) 

PARIS,  August  13,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

On  our  arrival  here  on  the  loth  I  was  delighted 
to  receive  three  letters  from  you.  My  last  was 
written  from  Moscow  on  the  4th.  We  left  Mos- 
cow the  next  day,  5th,  and  were  twenty  hours 
on  the  train  before  reaching  Warsaw.  Poland 
belongs  to  Russia,  so  we  were  still  on  Russian 
soil,  and  the  weather  having  turned  very  warm 
we  found  ourselves  uncomfortable  from  the  heat. 
Warsaw  has  450,000  people,  and  although  it 
is  a  fine  city,  it  is  not  nearly  as  handsome  nor  so 
picturesque  as  either  Moscow  or  St.  Petersburg. 
We  remained  there  only  twenty-four  hours,  and 
did  not  attempt  to  do  more  than  to  drive  about 
the  city.  It  was  very  hot  when  we  left,  but  a 
thunderstorm  cooled  the  air  during  the  afternoon, 
and  we  had  a  comfortable  night  on  our  way  to 
Berlin.  Most  of  the  country  between  Moscow 
and  Warsaw  is  level  and  fertile.  It  abounds  in 
pine  and  birch  forests  and  is  a  very  fine  farm- 
ing country.  There  are  large  quantities  of  wheat 
grown,  which  is  stacked  in  the  fields  for  want  of 
barns  wherein  to  store  it,  and  in  several  instances 
we  saw  the  grain  being  threshed  out  with  flails, 
in  the  old-fashioned  way.  We  never  once  saw 
a  reaper  in  all  those  great  level  fields  of  waving 
grain,  but  hundreds  of  men  and  women  were  en- 
gaged in  cutting  the  wheat  with  sickles.  There 
are  also  immense  fields  of  clover  in  full  bloom, 
as  bright  and  beautiful  as  a  huge  bed  of  roses. 
We  saw  large  numbers  of  cattle  and  sheep. 


(97) 

and  as  there  were  no  fences  at  all  I  could  not 
help  wondering  how  they  were  kept  out  of  the 
grain.  The  country  reminded  me  of  Canada  in 
everything  but  its  funny  thatched  villages,  and 
they  did  not  compare  very  favorably  with  our 
own  flourishing  towns,  glistening  with  white  paint 
and  cleanliness.  I  must  say  that  on  the  whole  I 
like  the  Turks  better  than  I  do  the  Russians, 
because  if  the  Turks  are  dirty  they  are  at  least 
picturesque  in  their  dirt,  whereas  the  Russians 
are  not. 

We  arrived  at  Berlin  on  the  8th,  and  took  up 
our  quarters  at  the  same  hotel  in  which  we  stayed 
seven  years  ago.  I  like  Berlin ;  it  is  a  beautiful 
city,  clean  and  neat,  with  nice  wide  streets,  smooth 
pavements,  and  a  ring  of  honesty  about  its  peo- 
ple. The  Germans  may  be  slow,  but  they  are 
much  more  reliable  and  honest  than  many  of 
their  more  active-minded  brethren.  It  was  de- 
lightful to  give  ourselves  up  to  the  business  of 
resting,  and  although  we  were  there  less  than 
two  days  we  did  a  good  deal  of  solid  work  in 
that  direction. 

Since  reaching  Paris  on  Sunday  morning  we 
have  been  very  busy  attending  to  our  shopping 
and  visiting  with  our  relatives.  The  Smiths  are 
out  in  the  country  again,  and  have  a  lovely  little 
home  only  ten  miles  from  the  city.  We  were  all 
out  there  to  dinner  last  night,  and  they  are  to 
dine  with  us  at  our  hotel  to-morrow  night.  I 
went  to  see  Madame  d'Harmonon  yesterday  and 
had  a  nice  visit  with  her.  She  said  Mrs.  Fisher, 


(98  ) 

Kate,  and  I  were  her  model  boarders,  and  she 
would  like  to  have  us  spend  next  winter  with  her. 
Will  is  growing  all  the  time.  He  is  now  taller 
and  weighs  a  little  more  than  his  father. 

News  came  a  few  days  ago  that  the  Hill  School 
had  burned  down.  If  nothing  was  saved,  Will 
has  lost  about  five  hundred  dollars*  worth  in 
books,  furniture,  pictures,  camera,  wheel,  etc. 
We  hear  that  the  Mo.  Car  &  Fd'ry.  Co.  have 
also  had  a  fire,  but  as  yet  have  not  had  any  letter 
from  Mr.  Bixby,  telling  about  it.  William  does 
not  worry,  for  it  would  do  no  good,  and  then  he 
has  such  wonderful  control  over  his  feelings  that 
when  he  makes  up  his  mind  not  to  worry  that  is 
the  end  of  it.  William  and  Will  have  gone  out 
to  some  entertainment,  but  we  have  all  been  so 
busy  to-day  that  the  rest  of  us  were  glad  to  stay 
quietly  at  home.  We  have  comfortable  rooms, 
and  such  a  pretty,  cosy  sitting-room,  and  are 
really  enjoying  Paris  very  much.  Mr.  Smith's 
son,  a  little  older  than  Will,  is  over  here  for  his 
vacation,  and  the  two  young  men  are  having  a 
nice  time  together. 

We  go  to  London  about  the  25th  for  two 
weeks,  and  then  to  Scotland  and  Ireland  for  the 
remainder  of  our  stay  on  this  side  of  the  water. 
Our  holiday  is  drawing  to  a  close,  and  I  think  it 
will  be  very  nice  to  get  home  and  settle  down 
once  more  in  my  own  house.  Hattie  Sawyer  is 
coming  to  Paris  in  a  few  days  to  make  us  a  little 
visit. 

Now    I    must  not  weary  your  patience  any 


(  99) 

longer,  dear.    All  send  much  love  to  you,  but 
the  largest  budget  comes  from 
Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

1 2  WEYMOUTH  STREET,  PORTLAND  PLACE,  LONDON, 
September  3,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

I  received  your  forty-first  letter  on  Monday 
ist,  with  inclosures  from  Eula  and  Florence. 
They  were  all  very  welcome  indeed.  I  am 
glad  Florence  passed  her  examinations  so  well 
and  that  the  girls  are  having  such  a  pleasant  time. 

In  my  last  letter  I  made  a  misstatement  as  to 
the  population  of  London.  It  has  over  5,000,000 
people,  and  extends  thirteen  miles  one  way  and 
sixteen  miles  the  other,  including  the  suburbs. 
The  city  has  1 5,000  cabs,  tramcars,and  omnibuses, 
besides  all  the  private  carriages.  About  30,000 
vehicles  and  140,000  pedestrians  pass  the  Man- 
sion House,  which  is  the  official  residence  of  the 
Lord  Mayor,  during  eight  hours  of  every  working 
day.  There  are  14,000  police  in  London.  It  is 
truly  a  monster  city,  and  one  peculiarity  about  it 
is  that  no  one  part  of  the  town  seems  to  be  much 
better  than  another.  It  is  very  even  in  the  con- 
dition of  its  streets  and  in  the  construction  of  the 
buildings.  There  are  handsome  buildings  every- 
where, and  there  are  plain  ones,  but  the  streets 
are  all  well  paved  and  are  kept  quite  clean. 

Last  Saturday  we  had  a  fine  coach  ride  of  sev- 
enty-four miles  through  a  most  beautiful  country. 


We  started  at  10.45  anc*  were  home  again  at  seven 
o'clock.  We  changed  horses  every  ten  miles  and 
had  a  good  dinner  at  the  other  end  of  the  route. 
Sunday  afternoon  we  took  a  carriage  and  drove 
for  nearly  three  hours  in  the  city  and  parks,  and 
on  Monday  we  went  on  the  Thames,  down  to 
Greenwich,  and  came  home  by  the  underground 
railway.  We  enjoyed  seeing  the  shipping  of  all 
sorts,  and  the  manufactories  along  the  banks  of 
the  river.  Sometimes  there  were  so  many  barges 
and  boats  in  the  river  that  our  boat  had  hard 
work  to  get  through,  and  the  worst  of  it  was  that 
the  boat  was  so  crowded  that  we  had  to  stand  up. 
We  often  use  the  underground  railroad,  as  it 
is  very  convenient  but  not  very  pleasant,  on 
account  of  the  smoke.  London  would  have  a 
hard  time  to  get  along  without  that  railroad. 
I  like  riding  in  the  hansoms.  The  driver  sits 
up  behind,  so  there  is  nothing  to  interfere  with 
one's  view,  and  the  vehicle  having  only  two 
wheels  can  slip  in  and  out  where  a  carriage  could 
not  go  at  all.  Yesterday  afternoon  we  went  down 
into  the  city  on  top  of  a  'bus,  and  it  was  great 
fun.  One  of  our  horses  fell  down  and  there  was 
quite  a  good  deal  of  excitement  among  some  of 
the  deck  passengers  for  a  little  while. 

We  are  thinking  of  going  to  Brighton,  the 
swell  seaside  resort,  perhaps  to-morrow.  We  may 
go  down  by  coach  and  come  back  by  train,  and 
we  also  want  to  see  Windsor  Castle  while  we  are 
here,  as  we  did  not  go  there  when  we  were  here 
before.  We  have  had  five  days  of  as  perfect 


weather  as  any  one  could  desire.  The  sun  can 
really  shine  in  London,  and  I  did  not  think  it 
could.  Last  night  we  had  a  little  shower,  and  it 
is  cloudy  to-day,  so  we  are  going  to  content  our- 
selves with  seeing  something  in  the  city,  instead 
of  trying  to  make  any  excursion  outside.  We  are 
enjoying  our  housekeeping  very  much ;  the  only 
danger  is  that  we  will  all  over-eat  of  the  good 
things  Mrs.  Bowden  provides  at  William's  sug- 
gestion. For  you  must  know  that  he  is  the 
housekeeper  and  orders  all  the  meals.  Will  is 
six  feet  and  one  fourth  inch  high,  and  no  signs 
of  stopping  as  yet.  He  is  shaving  now,  and  feels 
very  proud  of  the  stubbiness  of  his  newly-cut 
whiskers.  All  send  much  love.  We  are  a  sub- 
stantial looking  party,  and  hope  to  retain  our 
plumpness  in  spite  of  the  ocean  voyage,  which  we 
shall  make  in  about  a  month  from  this  time. 

Your  last  letter  to  me  will  be  written  on  the 
1 5th,  just  about  the  time  you  receive  this.  Then 
you  can  send  me  a  line  to  the  Windsor  Hotel, 
New  York,  about  the  5th  of  October,  please.  I 
shall  keep  on  writing  all  the  time  we  remain  on 
this  side,  and  afterwards  too,  of  course.  Love  to 
all,  and  your  dear  self  in  particular. 
Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE  McMlLLAN. 

LIVERPOOL,  September  12,  1890. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

I  have  not  had  a  letter  from  you  since  the  ist, 
but  it  may  be  owing  to  our  leaving  London  and 


changing  our  address.  Our  housekeeping  in  Lon- 
don was  a  great  success,  and  we  were  very  sorry  to 
give  it  up  at  the  end  of  two  weeks.  Last  Satur- 
day we  had  another  coaching  trip,  to  see  Windsor 
Castle.  We  drove  twenty-nine  miles,  a  great  deal 
of  the  time  by  the  side  of  the  Thames,  which  is 
very  winding  and  picturesque  out  in  the  country 
where  the  green  banks  slope  down  to  the  water's 
edge.  Windsor  is  quite  a  large  town  with  the 
castle  overlooking  the  Thames.  The  castle  itself 
is  an  enormous  pile  of  buildings,  occupying  a 
great  amount  of  ground,  and  compares  favorably 
in  every  respect  with  any  palace  we  have  seen. 
We  passed  under  the  windows  of  the  queen's 
own  apartments,  and  admired  the  fine  views  she 
must  enjoy  very  much.  Will  took  some  pictures 
of  the  place,  and  I  picked  some  ivy  leaves  to  put 
among  my  collection  of  leaves  and  flowers.  Just 
as  Will  had  finished  getting  as  many  views  as  he 
wanted,  a  guard  came  up  and  informed  him  that 
it  was  against  the  rule  for  photographs  to  be 
taken  on  the  grounds,  but  as  he  did  not  care  for 
any  more  it  did  not  trouble  him  in  the  least. 

Mr.  McCool  joined  us  just  before  we  left  Lon- 
don. We  started  on  Tuesday  morning  and  went 
down  to  Brighton  on  the  seacoast  for  a  day.  It 
was  lovely  there,  and  the  next  time  we  come  over 
we  mean  to  spend  at  least  two  weeks  there.  It  is 
quite  a  large  city  and  has  four  miles  of  beach,  with 
a  beautiful  drive  and  any  number  of  attractions 
in  the  shape  of  rowboats,  bathing  wagons,  beach 
chairs,  etc.  We  could  scarcely  get  Will  away,  as 


(  I03  ) 

he  wanted  to  have  some  sea  baths  and  fishing. 
From  there  we  went  to  Oxford,  the  university 
town,  saw  the  twenty-three  colleges  there  and 
went  into  a  good  many  of  them.  That  was  a 
charming  place  and  very  interesting  on  account 
of  its  great  educational  advantages.  The  colleges 
are  all  very  attractive ;  of  course  some  of  them 
are  more  so  than  others,  but  they  seem  to  be  very 
pleasant  places  in  which  to  spend  one's  school 
days. 

For  two  weeks  we  have  had  no  rain,  and  lovely 
weather  all  the  time.  A  few  days  were  quite 
warm,  but  it  is  cool  and  pleasant  again,  and  we 
are  hoping  for  fine  weather  at  the  English  Lakes, 
where  we  expect  to  go  this  afternoon.  We  came 
here  yesterday,  wishing  to  attend  to  some  business, 
and  then  it  is  on  our  way  to  Lake  Windermere. 
We  feel  pretty  well  acquainted  with  Liverpool 
now,  and  very  much  at  home.  We  have  not 
quite  decided  as  to  going  to  Scotland,  or  leaving 
it  for  another  time.  If  we  do  not  go  there  I  will 
not  see  Charlie.  William  is  getting  rather  tired 
of  traveling,  and  feels  more  like  settling  down 
somewhere  till  the  time  comes  for  sailing.  I  can- 
not set  my  mind  to  writing  long  letters,  for  it 
seems  needless  when  we  are  to  go  home  so  soon, 
and  my  American  correspondents  seem  to  feel 
the  same  way  about  it,  as  I  get  very  few  letters 
now.  All  send  much  love  to  you,  and  so  do  I, 
dear. 

Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 


I04 

BOWNESS  ON  WlNDERMERE,    ENGLAND, 

September  17,  1890. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

I  have  not  received  a  letter  from  you  since 
September  ist,  and  must  have  missed  one,  per- 
haps two.  I  know  you  have  written,  for  you 
have  been  so  good  about  writing  every  week  since 
I  have  been  over  here,  so  am  quite  sure  it  is  not 
your  fault. 

My  last  letter  to  you  was  written  on  the  I2th 
at  Liverpool,  just  before  we  started  for  the  Eng- 
lish Lakes.  Friday  night  found  us  in  this  quiet, 
lovely  spot,  and  we  have  enjoyed  our  surround- 
ings very  much. 

Bowness  is  a  little  town  of  about  2000  inhab- 
itants, on  the  shore  of  Windermere,  the  largest 
and  prettiest  of  the  English  Lakes.  English 
people  have  a  notion  that  there  is  no  scenery  in 
the  world  to  compare  with  this  in  beauty,  and  it 
certainly  is  very  pretty,  but  we  have  numerous 
lakes  on  our  side  of  the  water  quite  as  lovely  if 
not  more  so.  Our  hotel  is  on  the  hillside  and 
overlooks  the  lake,  with  its  green  slopes  and 
wooded  hillsides  opposite,  and  numerous  pictur- 
esque little  islands  dotting  the  sparkling  surface 
of  the  water.  We  are  very  fortunate  in  having 
good  weather  here,  for  it  has  been  wet  all  sum- 
mer, and  only  cleared  up  a  few  days  before  we 
came. 

We  went  on  a  delightful  coaching  trip  last  Sat- 
urday, when  I  sat  on  the  box  seat  where  I  could 
watch  the  four  horses  as  well  as  drink  in  the 


(  105  ) 

beautiful  views.  It  is  a  good  deal  like  Scotch 
scenery  in  this  part  of  England,  having  many 
quite  high  and  rugged  looking  mountains  covered 
with  heather.  Steamers  ply  up  and  down  the 
lake  and  connect  with  trains  at  either  end,  and  we 
have  taken  some  very  pleasant  trips  on  the  water. 
Yesterday  we  went  to  see  the  ruins  of  Furness 
Abbey,  which  was  founded  in  1127.  It  was  an 
immense  monastery  in  its  prime,  and  is  perhaps  the 
largest  ruin  in  this  part  of  the  world.  The  stone 
walls  still  look  very  strong,  and  it  seems  strange 
that  such  a  massive  structure  could  ever  fall  into 
decay.  It  is  almost  covered  with  masses  of  ivy 
and  woodbine,  which  make  it  very  beautiful.  Will 
is  in  his  element  here,  and  spends  his  time  in 
rowing  and  fishing.  He  supplies  our  breakfast 
table  with  delicious  fish,  principally  pike.  One 
which  he  caught  on  Monday  weighed  at  least 
five  pounds,  and  was  a  beauty.  To-day  we  have 
planned  a  drive  to  some  of  the  noted  places  in 
the  neighborhood.  Every  inch  of  ground  is  his- 
torical and  noted  for  some  important  event,  or  as 
being  the  birthplace  of  some  poet  or  author  or 
royal  personage.  We  expect  to  go  to  Edinburgh  { 
to-morrow  and  will  spend  about  a  week  in  Scot- 
land, leaving  Ireland  for  the  last  week  of  our 
stay  here.  Two  weeks  from  to-morrow  we 
will  go  on  board  the  City  of  New  York,  at 
Queenstown,  and  I  make  no  further  plans  till  we 
land  in  New  York.  We  hope  for  a  smooth  pas- 
sage, but  will  have  to  take  just  what  is  provided 
for  us  in  the  way  of  weather.  I  shall  see  Charlie 


(  106  ) 

in  Glasgow,  probably,  but  we  expect  to  be  there 
only  one  day,  having  seen  the  city  pretty  thor- 
oughly seven  years  ago. 

William  and  I  celebrated  our  twenty-seventh 
wedding  anniversary  yesterday.  Poor  William 
has  suffered  with  toothache  more  or  less  ever 
since  he  has  been  over  here,  and  on  Monday  he 
went  to  a  dentist  and  had  the  tooth  taken  out. 
Now  he  feels  like  himself  again,  and  we  believe 
that  the  trouble  will  be  only  a  thing  of  the  past. 

We  are  all  reckoning  on  having  a  nice  long 
visit  from  you  after  our  return  home,  and  will  be 
delighted  to  see  you  as  soon  as  you  can  make  it 
convenient  to  come.  It  is  not  likely  I  can  leave 
home  right  away,  after  being  away  so  long,  and 
so  this  time  we  will  expect  you  to  do  the  visiting. 
We  shall  stay  at  the  Windsor  Hotel,  in  New 
York,  and  I  hope  to  find  a  letter  waiting  for  me 
saying  you  will  come  to  St.  Louis  very  soon.  All 
the  family  join  me  in  much  love  to  you. 

Hoping  to  get  a  letter  from  you  in  the  next 
mail,  and  thanking  you  for  being  so  faithful  in 
writing  me  during  the  past  year,  with  oceans  of 
love  to  my  dear  father,  I  am  always 
Your  affectionate  daughter, 

LlZZIE  McMlLLAN. 


GRESHAM  HOTEL,  DUBLIN,  IRELAND, 

September  26,  1890. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

I  received  some  letters  to-night  from  Canada 
dated  September  8th,  but  none  from  you.    The 


last  letter  I  had  from  you  reached  me  September 
ist,  so  several  must  be  missing  and  I  cannot 
understand  it  at  all. 

I  wrote  you  last  from  Lake  Windermere,  in 
England.  On  the  i8th  we  went  to  Edinburgh 
and  stayed  till  Monday  morning.  We  saw  the 
Castle  and  Holyrood  Palace,  John  Knox's,  and 
a  good  many  interesting  places,  besides  climbing 
Scott's  monument ;  but  we  were  most  impressed 
by  the  splendid  cantilever  bridge  over  the  Frith 
of  Forth.  I  actually  dreamed  of  crossing  it,  the 
other  night,  but  that  was  as  near  as  I  came  to 
doing  it,  for  on  our  way  to  the  Scotch  Lakes  our 
train  did  not  go  that  way,  as  we  had  hoped  and 
expected  that  it  would.  We  took  a  favorite  trip 
through  that  part  of  Scotland  which  they  call  the 
Trossachs,  and  sailed  on  Lakes  Katrine  and 
Lomond,  besides  having  several  coach  rides.  For- 
tunately the  weather  was  fine  for  the  two  days  of 
our  trip,  otherwise  we  would  not  have  had  such 
a  delightful  time.  Tuesday  night  we  reached 
Glasgow,  and  having  already  notified  brother 
Charlie  of  our  arrival,  he  came  and  spent  the 
evening  with  us.  He  looks  very  well  indeed, 
and  seems  to  feel  happy  and  much  at  home. 
Yesterday  morning  we  woke  up  to  find  it  raining 
hard,  and  the  wind  blowing  great  guns.  As  we 
were  to  cross  the  Irish  Channel  during  the  day, 
the  prospect  was  rather  discouraging ;  however, 
we  left  Glasgow  about  half  past  nine  and  before 
long  it  cleared  off,  and  the  wind  went  down  a  good 
deal,  so  we  had  a  very  comfortable  passage,  after 


all.  We  crossed  at  Stranraer,  where  William's 
father  and  mother  lived,  and  we  landed  at  Larne, 
and  put  our  feet  for  the  first  time  on  Irish  soil. 
I  think  Ireland  well  named  in  being  called  the 
"  Emerald  Isle,"  for  anything  more  green  than 
the  whole  country  I  never  saw.  The  fields  are 
bright  green,  and  the  divisions  are  made  with 
beautiful  green  hedges,  instead  of  ugly  rail  or 
stone  fences,  while  there  is  a  great  deal  of  wood- 
land and  shrubbery  everywhere.  We  took  train 
up  to  Belfast  and  arrived  there  about  five  o'clock, 
thankful  that  we  had  crossed  the  Channel  for  the 
last  time  without  being  sick. 

Belfast,  much  to  my  surprise,  is  a  large  city  of 
225,000  inhabitants,  and  is  mostly  a  Protestant 
community.  We  spent  to-day  there  very  plea- 
santly, seeing  the  city.  We  drove  all  around 
town  in  one  of  the  funny  Irish  jaunting  cars, 
where  the  people  sit  facing  the  side,  and  back  to 
back.  It  was  great  fun  for  a  little  while,  but  I 
would  not  care  to  ride  all  day  in  that  fashion, 
especially  as  one  feels  very  much  like  tumbling 
off  into  the  street,  at  every  jolt  of  the  vehicle,  and 
it  jolts  all  the  time.  We  left  Belfast  at  3.30  to- 
day, and  at  seven  sat  down  to  a  most  excellent 
dinner  at  this  hotel. 

Dublin  is  not  very  much  larger  than  Belfast, 
but  has  more  of  interest  about  it.  We  will  spend 
to-morrow  here,  and  on  Saturday  will  go  to  Kil- 
larney  to  see  the  lovely  Irish  Lakes.  Our  train 
came  at  the  rate  of  forty-four  miles  an  hour  from 
Belfast  to  Dublin,  so  you  see  we  are  not  quite 


(  I09  ) 

away  from  civilization,  even  if  we  are  in  old  Ire- 
land. Both  in  Scotland  and  in  Ireland  the  oats 
harvest  is  still  going  on.  They  have  no  barns  in 
this  country,  and  we  see  the  grain  stacked  in 
the  fields,  waiting  for  the  threshing ;  some  of  the 
threshing  is  already  done.  Charlie  says  he  has 
often  wanted  to  teach  the  Scotch  people  how  to 
bind  grain.  He  says  they  are  very  slow  and  awk- 
ward about  it. 

One  week  from  now  we  will  be  on  the  steamer 
on  our  way  to  New  York.  I  hope  old  ocean  will 
treat  us  kindly  this  time.  Our  family  are  rather 
tired  and  are  going  to  retire  early,  so  I  must  close 
my  letter.  Hoping  that  you  are  well  and  happy, 
and  looking  for  a  letter  every  day,  with  much 
love,  in  which  William  and  Will,  and  Mrs.  Fisher 
and  Kate  all  join  heartily, 

Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 


THE  WINDSOR,  NEW  YORK. 

October  8,  1890. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

On  our  arrival  at  the  hotel  at  10.30  this  morn- 
ing I  found  your  welcome  letter.  It  is  good  to 
know  that  you  were  well,  for  after  a  few  days  at 
sea,  when  one  is  really  out  of  the  world,  letters 
telling  of  the  welfare  of  dear  friends  are  more 
than  ever  welcome. 

We  have  had  a  very  busy  and  fatiguing  day 
with  visitors,  etc.,  and  now  it  is  nearly  midnight, 
but  I  must  send  you  a  short  letter  to  announce 


our  safe  arrival,  before  I  sleep.  The  last  few  days 
of  our  stay  in  Ireland  were  very  pleasant,  the 
weather  being  all  the  time  in  our  favor.  After 
leaving  Killarney  on  Wednesday  last,  just  a  week 
ago,  we  went  to  Blarney  to  see  the  ruined  castle 
and  to  kiss  the  Blarney  stone.  You  know  I  have 
often  been  accused  of  that,  but  they  do  say  that 
when  one  has  actually  kissed  the  really  truly 
Blarney  stone,  the  truth  does  not  dwell  any  longer 
in  that  person,  because  of  the  desire  to  say  plea- 
sant things  always.  It  was  a  beautiful  day,  and 
we  had  a  charming  walk  of  a  mile  and  more 
through  lovely  lanes  hedged  with  holly  and 
blackberry  bushes,  in  order  to  reach  the  castle. 
After  our  visit  there  we  went  by  train  to  Cork 
and  spent  a  few  hours  seeing  that  old-fashioned 
town,  and  took  supper  at  Queenstown  the  same 
night. 

We  embarked  for  home  on  Thursday  at  1.15, 
and  made  the  run  to  Sandy  Hook  in  five  days, 
twenty-one  hours,  and  nineteen  minutes,  the 
quickest  on  record  excepting  one  which  was  made 
by  the  City  of  Paris.  We  had  all  sorts  of  weather, 
some  good,  some  bad,  and  some  indifferent,  and 
we  behaved  accordingly.  When  the  sea  was 
smooth  we  were  on  deck,  where  we  wrapped  our- 
selves in  our  rugs,  stretched  at  full  length  in  our 
steamer  chairs,  and  enjoyed  the  pure  air,  the  gen- 
tle motion  of  the  boat,  and  the  vast  expanse  of 
water  around  us.  When  the  sea  was  rough  we 
remained  in  our  berths  and  groaned  with  seasick- 
ness and  wished  ourselves  anywhere,  if  we  could 


( III) 

only  be  f>n  dry  land  once  more.  But  on  the 
whole  <-we  had  a  very  comfortable  voyage,  and 
proved  to  be  better  sailors  than  we  had  expected 
to  be. 

The  steamer  City  of  New  York  is  a  magnifi- 
cent boat  500  feet  in  length  and  rides  the  waves 
splendidly.  It  takes  more  than  an  ordinary  storm 
to  affect  her,  so  when  we  were  tossed  about  like 
an  eggshell  on  the  water  the  other  night,  we 
knew  it  was  no  slight  storm  we  had  to  fight. 
There  were  2000  people  on  the  ship,  including 
first  and  second  class  passengers,  steerage,  and 
officers  and  crew.  Quite  a  little  city  we  were,  and 
where  all  trades  were  represented.  How  glad  we 
were,  early  this  morning,  to  see  land  and  to  feel 
that  we  were  really  on  American  soil  once  more, 
and  how  amusing  it  was  to  see  the  different  as- 
pects of  the  600  first  class  passengers,  as  hoods 
and  caps  were  discarded  and  fine  hats  and  bon- 
nets appeared  instead. 

As  soon  as  we  got  on  shore  we  came  up  to  the 
Windsor,  where  we  found  a  warm  welcome  from 
friends  in  person  and  by  letter.  It  does  not  seem 
nearly  so  long  since  we  left  New  York,  but  it  is 
a  whole  year  lacking  ten  days,  and  yet  all  seems 
so  natural  and  homelike  on  this  side  of  the  water 
that  I  almost  feel  as  if  I  had  never  been  so  far 
away.  I  have  visited  many  new  and  interesting 
countries,  but  after  all  there  is  nothing  like  one's 
native  land. 

We  are  fast  being  separated  already,  as  Mrs. 
and  Miss  Fisher  left  for  Batavia  this  evening. 


Will  goes  to  Philadelphia  to-morrow  and  William 
and  I  start  for  St.  Louis  to-morrow  afternoon. 
We  expect  to  be  at  home  by  seven  o'clock  on 
Friday  evening,  about  the  time  you  will  receive 
this  letter,  or  perhaps  before.  I  will  try  to  ar- 
range it  some  way  to  be  in  Aylmer  this  autumn. 
I  must  see  my  dear  father  before  long,  and  if  he 
will  not  come  to  me  I  must  go  to  him. 

With  much  love  to  all  friends,  and  to  yourself 
in  particular, 

Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

DAMPFER,  EMS,  January  10,  1893. 
MY  DEAR  WILLIAM: 

We  did  not  start  as  soon  as  we  expected  be- 
cause of  one  late  passenger,  and  the  non-arrival 
of  the  luggage  of  four  young  ladies.  At  last  the 
man  came,  but  the  baggage  did  not,  and  we  were 
off.  It  was  cold  for  two  days,  and  has  been  quite 
mild  and  balmy  ever  since  until  to-day  there  is  a 
cold  rain.  Wednesday  night  I  came  to  dinner 
but  had  to  leave  with  the  soup  course,  and  the 
saloon  knew  me  no  more  until  Saturday  night.  It 
has  been  rough  all  the  time  excepting  one  day,  and 
if  you  could  see  how  high  the  waves  are  and  how 
the  boat  rolls,  you  would  be  amazed  that  I  could 
be  calmly  seated  at  the  table  writing  letters.  You 
may  be  able  to  tell  by  the  very  irregular  letters 
how  frequent  the  lurches  from  side  to  side  are.  I 
cannot  command  a  great  flow  of  language  under 
the  circumstances,  nor  would  I  have  energy  to 


(  »3  ) 

put  it  on  paper  any  way,  when  all  my  tact  and 
strength  are  required  to  keep  my  writing  mate- 
rials on  the  table  and  not  under  it. 

We  have  all  turned  out  to  be  very  fair  sailors, 
and  Kate  will  ever  be  a  monument  of  glory,  as 
she  has  not  been  sick  at  all.  They  call  her  the 
"  old  salt "  since  last  Thursday,  when  she  was  al- 
most the  only  woman  in  the  saloon  at  meals.  We 
found  Mrs.  Dudgeon  as  soon  as  you  had  gone, 
and  she  was  the  lady  whom  Kate  suggested  to 
you  on  the  deck.  She  is  very  charming  and  sits 
with  us  at  the  chief  engineer's  table,  and  we  have 
very  jolly  times.  Herr  Eicke,  the  chief  engineer, 
is  a  typical  German,  large,  stout,  and  fair,  with 
merry  blue  eyes,  and  is  very  nice  to  us.  Kate 
and  Alice  sit  on  his  left,  while  Mrs.  Dudgeon  and 
I  are  on  his  right.  Since  luncheon  Kate  and  I 
went  to  the  purser's  office  to  change  my  Ameri- 
can money  and  get  some  stamps.  He  had  neither 
French  gold  nor  English  money,  so  I  got  Italian 
notes,  as  we  expect  to  be  in  Naples  three  days, 
and  are  going  to  make  a  trip  over  to  Ischia  if  the 
weather  is  fine.  We  are  rather  discouraged  about 
the  weather,  as  it  seems  to  get  worse  instead  of 
better,  the  further  south  we  go.  There  was  a 
petition  circulating  yesterday  among  the  passen- 
gers to  induce  the  captain  to  stop  at  Palermo, 
but  the  fiat  has  gone  forth  to-day  that  he  will 
not  stop  there.  So  our  only  landings  en  route 
will  be  at  Gibraltar  and  Naples. 

There  are  some  very  pleasant  people  on  board 
(besides  ourselves),  and  a  very  jolly  crowd  they 


(  »4  ) 

are.  Last  night  nearly  every  one  was  in  the  sa- 
loon playing  cards,  cribbage,  chess,  etc.,  and  just 
after  we  had  finished  our  game  of  bezique  and 
had  ordered  three  milk  punches,  Mrs.  Bell,  who 
has  the  captain's  room,  and  had  so  many  flowers 
and  so  much  fruit,  sent  us  some  grapes  and  man- 
darins, so  we  had  quite  a  feast.  We  like  this  boat 
very  much  indeed.  The  table  is  excellent,  the 
service  admirable,  and  everything  is  as  clean 
and  neat  as  the  most  fastidious  soul  could  de- 
sire. When  we  went  up  to  get  our  stamps  from 
the  purser  we  met  Herr  Eicke  who  asked  us  to 
come  and  inspect  his  den,  and  then  he  showed  us 
the  engine. 

We  hope  to  get  to  Gibraltar  on  Thursday 
morning,  if  all  is  well,  and  have  been  looking  up 
the  code  to  find  a  word  which  will  suitably  ex- 
press our  feelings,  and  think  that  "  abolition " 
comes  nearest  the  mark.  We  certainly  have  not 
had  a  pleasant  voyage,  and  yet  it  has  not  been 
cold  nor  violently  stormy,  and  we  are  all  well  and 
have  been  so  excepting  for  two  days.  They  ex- 
pect to  give  us  four  hours  at  Gibraltar,  which 
will  be  ample  time  for  seeing  the  most  interest- 
ing features  of  that  grand  fortification.  Later  I 
will  be  able  to  speak  more  intelligently  on  that 
point. 

Counting  the  real  time,  it  is  just  one  week 
ago  that  we  sailed,  and  in  some  ways  it  seems 
three  times  as  long.  Here  is  a  list  of  the 
daily  runs:  290,  366,  346,  367,  376,  382,  375. 
I  suppose  you  and  Will  had  a  lovely  time  in 


(  'iS) 

Washington  and  in  Braddock,  and  are  about 
starting  for  St.  Louis,  and  by  the  time  our  first 
letters  reach  you  all  your  plans  for  Eddy  will 
have  been  completed. 

Now  I  must  write  a  few  words  to  father  and 
Patie,  and  it  tires  me  dreadfully  to  write  here.  It 
seems  too  bad  that  letters  take  so  long  to  go  to 
you.  How  stale  our  present  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings will  be  when  you  get  them  !  Alice  and  Kate 
send  a  great  deal  of  love  to  you  and  Will,  and  so 
do  I. 

Your  loving  wife, 

LIZZIE  McMiLLAN. 

HOTEL  ROYAL,  NAPLES, 
Sunday,  January  15,  1893,  7.30  p.  M. 

MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

If  you  could  only  see  your  three  tramps  at  this 
moment !  You  must  know  that  we  are  in  "  Sunny 
Italy,"  and  we  are  sitting  just  as  close  to  the  fire 
in  our  grate  as  we  can.  We  have  two  tables  with  our 
writing  materials  near  us,  and  a  lamp  and  a  candle 
to  illuminate  the  scene.  After  giving  you  this 
bird's-eye  view  I  must  return  to  the  date  of  my 
last  writing,  when  we  were  expecting  to  reach 
Gibraltar  the  next  day.  Well,  Wednesday  night 
was  a  perfect  nightmare.  It  was  the  roughest 
night  of  the  voyage,  and  the  captain  was  on  the 
bridge  all  night,  and  when  morning  came  the  sea 
presented  anything  but  a  pleasant  aspect.  I  rose 
at  6.30  and  at  seven  was  on  deck,  as  I  was  deter- 
mined to  see  land  as  soon  as  any  was  to  be 


seen.  I  was  the  first  woman  out,  and  only  one 
man  was  before  me,  and  there  on  the  right  was 
Africa,  with  a  lighthouse  on  the  point.  The  morn- 
ing was  foggy  and  wet,  so  there  was  a  limit  to  our 
vision,  but  soon  land  appeared  on  the  left  and  we 
were  off  the  Spanish  main.  Wednesday  even- 
ing the  light  from  Cape  St.  Vincent  on  the  coast 
of  Portugal  was  seen,  but  we  went  off  from  shore 
again  in  a  short  time.  About  ten  o'clock  Thurs- 
day morning  we  reached  Gibraltar  bay,  and  had  a 
grand  view  of  the  famous  rock  and  fortifications. 
It  seemed  quite  natural,  as  it  was  just  as  the  pic- 
tures had  always  represented  it.  The  bay  was 
full  of  shipping  of  every  description,  and  it  was 
hard  to  find  an  anchorage,  but  after  many  delays 
a  tender  came  and  about  forty  of  the  passengers 
went  on  shore.  It  seemed  very  delightful  to  step 
on  solid  ground  once  more.  The  first  thing  we 
did  was  to  get  a  man  who  spoke  English  (and  as 
English  is  taught  in  the^  schools  there  we  had 
no  trouble  about  it),  who  secured  a  funny  look- 
ing carriage  for  us  and  drove  us  to  the  American 
consul  to  get  a  permit  to  visit  the  fortifications. 
The  consul  came  down  to  the  carriage  and  in- 
vited us  upstairs  while  he  made  out  the  permit. 
His  parlors  were  quaint,  with  a  mixture  of  Amer- 
ican and  foreign  furniture  and  decorations,  and 
very  attractive,  with  lots  of  flowers  everywhere. 
When  he  found  we  were  from  St.  Louis,  he 
said  a  relative  of  his  used  to  live  there.  This 
relative  proved  to  have  been  General  Reynolds, 
and  he  was  very  much  astonished  and  pleased 


(  "7) 

when  I  said  I  had  known  the  general  very 
well  indeed.  He  gave  us  some  roses,  urged 
us  to  remain  longer,  and  finally  parted  with 
us  in  a  most  friendly  manner.  We  then  drove 
through  the  quaint  old  Spanish  town,  ascend- 
ing all  the  while  those  narrow  streets  so  com- 
mon in  these  old  countries,  with  alleys  of  stone 
steps  going  up  and  up  till  it  wearies  one  to 
look  at  them,  and  soon  found  ourselves  at  the 
iron  gateway  to  one  of  the  galleries  leading  to 
the  guns.  They  say  there  are  twenty-seven  of 
these  galleries,  in  the  rock,  but  we  traversed  only 
one,  for  the  way  was  very  steep  and  we  were 
obliged  to  walk.  When  we  reached  the  first  out- 
look, or  gun,  we  went  outside  to  get  the  view, 
which  was  certainly  a  magnificent  one.  On  the 
left  was  the  bay  with  its  numerous  water  craft  of 
all  sizes  and  kinds,  while  on  the  right  lay  the  blue 
Mediterranean,  looking  so  calm  and  placid  com- 
pared with  the  turbulent  Atlantic  we  had  just 
left.  In  front  of  us  was  Spain,  looking  moun- 
tainous and  rugged,  but  bearing  many  beautiful 
green  spots.  Gibraltar  itself  was  like  a  green 
oasis  in  the  desert,  it  was  so  covered  with  beau- 
tiful gardens  and  lovely  shade  trees.  The  air 
was  as  balmy  as  April  and  the  weather  quite  as 
changeable.  Every  little  while  we  would  have  a 
sharp  shower  and  then  the  sun  would  come  out 
again  as  brightly  as  ever,  but  as  we  were  so  for- 
tunate as  to  be  in  the  carriage  whenever  it  rained, 
it  only  made  a  pleasant  diversion  for  us. 

The  drive  from  the  English  town  where  we 


landed  to  the  Spanish  town  was  through  a  hedge 
of  aloes  in  full  bloom,  and  I  wish  you  could  have 
seen  it.  After  our  visit  to  the  fortifications  was 
over  we  came  to  the  town,  did  a  little  shopping, 
of  course,  then  found  a  pastry  shop  where  we  could 
get  some  cakes  and  a  cup  of  good  strong  tea ;  and 
how  good  it  was !  It  fairly  makes  me  hungry  to 
think  of  it  even  now,  just  after  a  splendid  table 
d'hote  dinner  at  our  favorite  Hotel  Royal  des 
Etrangers.  The  last  thing  we  did  was  to  go 
to  the  flower  and  fruit  market,  get  a  basket,  and 
have  it  filled  with  lovely  looking  mandarins  and 
covered  with  great  bunches  of  violets  and  nar- 
cissus. Just  across  the  street  was  the  Moorish 
market  where  imposing  Moors  in  native  costume 
and  great  white  turbans  offered  queer  baskets 
made  of  hemp  or  rope,  and  chickens  for  sale. 
They  bowed  most  profoundly  to  us,  but  did  not 
urge  us  to  buy,  as  they  probably  saw  we  were  in 
need  of  neither  chickens  —  lives  ones,  at  least 
—  nor  baskets.  By  this  time  we  were  a  mile  or 
more  from  our  steamer,  and  so  took  a  carriage 
down  to  the  dock.  We  found  that  one  day  in 
Gibraltar  had  cost  us  each  the  modest  sum  of  two 
dollars  and  a  trifle  more. 

We  were  to  have  weighed  anchor  at  five  o'clock, 
but  owing  to  delays  in  getting  coal  we  did  not 
get  away  until  eight,  and  were  glad  of  it,  as  it 
gave  us  the  opportunity  of  seeing  Gibraltar  by 
night.  It  was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  sights  I 
have  ever  seen,  and  as  we  sailed  out  of  the  bay, 
the  star-studded  heavens  and  the  thousands  of 


lights  on  Gibraltar  made  it  seem  more  like  a  fairy 
story  one  would  read,  than  like  reality.  Of  course 
you  know  that  Gibraltar  has  been  an  English 
fortress  for  200  years,  has  500  guns,  and  keeps 
provisions  on  hand  constantly  to  supply  1 50,000 
men  for  two  years. 

That  night  was  smooth  sailing,  and  we  thought 
that  now  we  were  on  the  Mediterranean  we  would 
feel  no  more  the  pitching  and  rolling  with  which 
we  had  become  so  familiar.  Alas,  our  dreams  of 
bliss  were  not  to  be  realized  so  soon,  for  morning 
found  a  heavy  sea  running,  which  only  changed 
to  increase,  and  none  of  the  blue  sky  of  Italian 
renown  was  visible,  and  not  even  the  sea  was  blue, 
but  a  dirty  gray  like  any  of  our  western  lakes. 
Yesterday  afternoon  was  the  worst  of  all,  when 
the  vessel  rolled  so  much  that  we  were  afraid 
sometimes  that  she  could  never  get  up  again. 
After  a  while  a  sail  was  hoisted  and  then  the 
waves  went  down,  so  that  we  had  a  delightful 
evening  playing  bezique  and  whist.  Since  the 
two  days*  illness  just  at  the  outset,  I  have  been 
perfectly  well  and  have  not  missed  a  meal.  It 
seemed  very  odd  to  feel  so  well,  when  I  had  to 
hang  on  with  one  hand,  to  dress,  or  eat,  or  write 
with  the  other,  as  best  I  could.  The  ship's  com- 
pany have  been  very  well,  as  a  general  thing, 
and  there  were  few  vacancies  either  at  lunch  or 
dinner.  More  than  twenty  passengers  came  on 
board  at  Gibraltar,  and  they  say  that  forty  will 
embark  at  Naples.  About  that  number  will  also 
remain  here.  The  four  young  ladies  who  had  to 


(    120    ) 

leave  New  York  without  their  luggage  will  per- 
haps go  up  the  Nile  on  the  steamer  with  us.  They 
are  very  nice  girls,  are  from  Boston,  and  two  of 
them  we  call  Norah  and  Hoppie,  because  one 
of  them  reminds  us  of  Miss  Pettibone,  and  the 
other  of  Miss  Hopkins.  Another  of  them,  Miss 
Choate,  said  she  had  heard  of  me  through  her 
sister,  who  is  a  friend  of  Mrs.  Dillon.  You  see 
the  world  is  very  small,  after  all. 

This  morning  at  ten  o'clock  we  saw  Ischia  in  the 
distance,  but  it  took  a  long  time  to  get  to  Naples 
after  that.  The  morning  was  cold  and  not  very 
bright,  so  a  good  many  jokes  were  made  at  the 
expense  of  this  sunny  clime,  and  we  shivered  in 
all  our  warm  wraps.  To  old  stagers  like  our- 
selves who  had  been  here  before,  it  was  amusing 
to  watch  the  enthusiasm  of  the  others,  and  we 
gave  our  information  about  different  disputed 
points  with  calm  superiority.  We  came  on  shore 
at  three  P.  M.  on  a  tender,  found  the  runner  for 
this  hotel  as  soon  as  he  came  on  board,  and  with 
his  assistance  passed  the  customs  with  our  satch- 
els very  easily,  and  were  soon  rattling  over  the 
streets  of  Naples  to  the  merry  crack  of  the  whips 
and  exciting  cries  of  the  cochers.  We  are  very 
nicely  settled  in  rooms  adjoining  each  other,  and 
have  a  good  fire  in  the  larger  room.  It  is  cold  and 
cloudy  in  Naples,  but  we  are  hoping  for  sunshine 
to-morrow.  Our  boat  sails  at  five  o'clock  to-mor- 
row, so  we  will  only  have  time  to  take  a  drive 
and  do  some  shopping. 

Now  I  must  end  this  long  letter  and  not  weary 


you  too  much.  Give  much  love  to  Will  and 
to  our  friends,  in  all  of  which  Alice  and  Kate 
join  me.  I  hope  you  received  the  message  from 
Gibraltar. 

Your  affectionate  wife, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

Mailed  letters  to  you  and  Will  at  Gibraltar. 

HOTEL  KHEDIVIAL,  ALEXANDRIA,  EGYPT, 
January  19,  1893. 

MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

Here  we  are  at  last,  after  two  weeks'  buffeting 
by  winds  and  waves,  in  Egypt  and  in  Alexandria, 
the  seat  of  learning  many  hundreds  of  years  ago. 
Well,  the  natives  scarcely  look,  many  of  them, 
as  if  they  had  lived  up  to  their  ancient  reputa- 
tion, but  I  dare  say  they  will  be  quite  clever 
enough  to  extort  many  a  pound  from  us  without 
our  being  wise  enough  to  protect  our  own  inter- 
ests. 

It  seems  quite  an  age  since  I  wrote  you  last 
from  Naples,  and  indeed  many  unpleasant  sensa- 
tions have  been  my  lot  since  then,  besides  a  good 
many  pleasant  ones.  The  only  day  we  had  in 
Naples  was  not  a  nice  one,  being  cold  and  wet. 
On  Monday  morning  we  found  old  Vesuvius 
covered  with  snow,  and  the  streets  of  the  city  very 
wet  from  the  rain  which  had  fallen  in  the  night. 
However,  we  went  out,  all  the  same,  and  wan- 
dered about  the  streets,  admiring  the  beautiful 
things  in  the  shop  windows  and  occasionally  going 
in  to  ask  the  prices  of  some  of  them.  The  streets 


were  as  full  of  people  and  as  noisy  and  fascinating 
as  ever,  so  that  we  did  not  get  back  to  the  hotel 
till  nearly  two  o'clock.  Then  we  had  some  lunch, 
paid  our  bill,  and  departed  in  the  hotel  'bus  for 
the  dock.  There  was  the  same  tender  by  which 
we  had  come  on  shore,  but  instead  of  the  tickets 
from  our  steamer,  which  passed  us  free  to  the 
shore,  they  wanted  two  shillings  to  take  us  back. 
We  politely  but  firmly  declined,  got  off  the 
tender,  and  with  the  assistance  of  our  hotel 
runner,  and  a  small  fee,  found  a  boat  to  take  us 
over  for  one  franc  each.  We  had  a  nice  row  and 
reached  the  steamer  a  long  time  before  the  tender 
arrived. 

At  five  o'clock  Monday  night  we  left  Naples, 
with  the  illuminated  city  on  our  left  and  Vesu- 
vius glowing  on  our  right.  It  was  a  fine  sight, 
but  was  soon  lost  in  the  mist  of  a  damp  evening. 
Tuesday  morning  Herr  Eicke  called  us  at  seven 
to  come  on  deck  and  see  the  entrance  to  the 
Straits  of  Messina.  It  is  only  about  one  mile  and 
a  half  wide  at  the  entrance  from  the  north,  and 
nearly  opposite  each  other  are  the  two  points 
called  Scylla  and  Charybdis,  with  rocks  or  whirl- 
pools between,  which  render  navigation  often 
dangerous.  I  never  understood  the  full  mean- 
ing of  that  old  saying  before :  "  Escaped  Scylla 
to  fall  into  Charybdis/'  The  former  still  re- 
tains its  old  name,  but  the  latter  is  now  called 
Point  Faro.  The  shores  of  both  Italy  and  Sicily 
presented  a  very  rugged  appearance,  and  snow- 
covered  mountains  were  to  be  seen  on  either 


hand,  but  Etna  declined  to  be  interviewed  and 
held  a  cloud  closely  about  his  grand  old  head. 
We  saw  our  favorite  town,  Taormina,  and  knew 
that  just  beyond  was  the  famous  mountain,  but 
although  many  watched  long  and  anxiously,  no- 
thing could  be  seen  of  its  stately  grandeur.  By 
ten  o'clock  that  morning  we  were  in  the  open  sea, 
with  great  waves  tossing  us  about  as  if  we  had 
not  coaled  up  at  Naples,  and  had  plenty  of  bal- 
last. I  was  very  miserable  all  day  and  all  night, 
for  the  rolling  and  pitching  never  ceased  until  x 
Wednesday  morning.  Yesterday  was  lovely  and 
it  has  been  growing  finer  ever  since.  The  sea  was 
quiet  and  every  one  was  happy  once  more,  partly 
from  that  and  a  good  deal  from  the  fact  that  the 
captain  had  promised  to  land  us  in  Alexandria 
to-day,  if  the  weather  should  continue  fine.  It 
did,  and  at  noon  to-day  we  were  in  Alexandria 
Bay,  under  charge  of  a  pilot  who  actually  brought 
us  to  the  dock  and  allowed  us  to  land  by  the  gang- 
plank. To  be  sure  we  got  into  a  boat  again  with 
our  luggage,  and  were  rowed  over  the  bay  to  the 
Custom  House  by  swarthy  natives,  who  are  as 
lithe,  graceful,  and  active  as  cats,  while  at  the  same 
time  they  are  possessed  of  prodigious  strength. 
Just  at  this  point  the  dinner-bell  rang,  and  as  it 
was  already  7.30  and  our  luncheon  on  board  the 
Ems  was  at  11.30,  you  need  not  be  surprised  to 
learn  that  we  were  ready  to  respond  to  the  wel- 
come sound.  We  had  to  go  down  to  the  ground 
floor,  cross  an  open  court,  and  then  found  our- 
selves in  the  Salon,  where  at  the  long  table  d'hote 


we  found  nearly  twenty  of  our  fellow  voyagers. 
The  dinner  was  very  good,  but  not  nearly  so  good 
nor  so  varied  as  our  table  on  the  ship,  and  after 
it  was  over,  ending  with  Turkish  coffee,  we  had 
a  chat  with  some  of  those  same  young  ladies  men- 
tioned in  my  last,  and  who  may  accompany  us  on 
our  trip  to  the  Holy  Land. 

We  had  no  trouble  with  the  Custom  House  ; 
none  of  our  trunks  were  opened,  but  we  were 
rather  anxious  about  some  of  our  luggage,  as  it 
was  not  on  our  boat ;  however,  when  we  arrived 
at  the  Hotel  Khedivial  it  was  waiting  in  the  hall 
for  us,  and  our  rooms  were  ready.  Your  letter 
must  have  been  to  the  point,  as  we  find  ourselves 
very  comfortably  accommodated,  and  have  every 
attention. 

As  in  Greece,  men  do  the  work  of  the  rooms, 
but  they  are  natives,  dressed  in  their  native  cos- 
tumes, baggy  trousers,  turbans,  and  all.  After 
looking  at  our  rooms  and  having  a  cup  of  tea,  we 
took  a  dragoman  and  went  for  a  walk,  and  saw 
many  a  queer  sight.  Such  confusion  and  mixing 
of  languages,  people,  and  luggage,  you  never  in 
all  your  life  could  have  imagined,  as  that  which 
took  place  on  the  steamer's  deck,  on  the  dock 
and  in  the  boats,  to-day,  attending  the  landing. 
It  was  all  so  novel  and  amusing  that  we  could 
not  help  laughing,  even  when  we  remembered 
that  we  might  never  see  our  dear  bags  again. 

As  usual,  we  came  off  in  fine  condition,  sound 
in  wind  and  in  limb,  and  with  more  than  half  our 
wits  about  us,  even  after  so  much  experience  in 


so  short  a  time.  Alice  received  such  a  nice  letter 
from  that  guide,  David  Jarnal,  who  places  him- 
self at  our  disposal  for  March  if  we  insist,  or  as 
he  suggests  from  the  middle  of  March  to  the 
middle  of  April,  for  the  trip  to  the  Holy  Land. 
He  says,  as  others  have  told  us,  that  March  is 
generally  rainy  until  the  middle,  and  that  after 
that  the  country  is  much  more  beautiful,  with 
foliage  and  wild  flowers. 

Now  I  must  try  to  write  at  least  one  more 
letter  to-night,  and  must  bid  you  good-night. 
Much  love  to  Will  and  to  your  dear  self.  Alice 
and  Kate  send  much  love  to  both  of  you,  and 
will  write  soon.  We  all  wish  you  could  be  with 
us  ;  these  Oriental  countries  would  please  and 
interest  you  very  much. 

Your  loving  wife, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

Sent  you  the  cable  code  "  aboding,"  as  we  did 
not  want  you  to  feel  that  we  had  been  so  very 
miserable.  We  really  had  no  storms  at  all,  but  a 
rough  sea  most  of  the  time.  They  call  it  a  very 
good  winter  voyage. 

CAIRO,  EGYPT,  January  26,  1893. 
DEAR  FATHER: 

It  is  just  a  week  ago  to-day  since  we  stepped 
on  Egyptian  soil ;  but  it  seems  as  if  centuries 
had  been  condensed  into  that  week. 

Here  is  where  the  Pharaohs  held  sway  and 
where  Cleopatra  reigned  supreme  in  power,  as  in 
beauty,  and  to-day  we  have  seen  the  road  which 


Moses  is  supposed  to  have  taken  when  leading  the 
Israelites  across  the  desert  out  of  Egypt.  Now, 
there  is  a  great  mixture  of  old  and  new  in  the 
country.  There  is  old  Cairo,  where  people  live 
as  they  did  perhaps  thousands  of  years  ago,  and 
there  is  modern  Cairo,  where  everything  looks 
quite  European,  excepting  for  the  camels  and 
donkeys  in  the  streets,  and  the  characteristic 
dress  of  the  native  Egyptian,  Copt,  or  Arab. 

We  spent  only  one  day  in  Alexandria,  and 
during  that  day  we  made  the  most  of  our  time, 
in  order  to  see  as  much  as  possible  of  the  city 
and  its  surroundings. 

It  is  not  probable  that  we  shall  return  there, 
because  we  can  get  out  of  the  country  by  another 
route,  which  will  prevent  us  from  retracing  our 
steps.  We  visited  the  native  part  of  the  city, 
driving  through  their  main  dwelling  streets  and 
markets.  x  The  latter  were  very  curious,  and 
would  have  looked  dirty  and  unpleasant  to  you. 

The  native  Egyptians  of  the  poorer  classes 
wear  rather  scanty  clothing.  The  feet  and  legs 
are  generally  bare,  but  some  wear  sandals  ;  then 
there  are  cotton  trousers  which  come  either  to 
the  knee  or  ankle  and  over  them  is  a  garment 
similar  to  a  shirt,  only  it  is  very  long,  extending 
almost  to  the  feet.  A  cap  is  worn  on  the  head, 
with  a  large  piece  of  white  cloth  wound  about  it ; 
this  is  called  a  turban,  and  over  all  is  a  volumi- 
nous mantle,  one  end  of  which  is  thrown  over 
the  left  shoulder.  Of  course  there  is  a  great 
variety  of  costumes  and  some  of  them  are  really 


quite  handsome,  but  the  one  I  have  tried  to  de- 
scribe is  the  most  common. 

The  Turkish  dress  and  Syrian  costume  con- 
sists of  the  long,  full  trousers,  embroidered  vest 
and  Zouave  jacket,  with  a  bright  colored  scarf 
around  the  waist  and  a  fez  for  the  head  cover- 
ing, which  is  usually  some  shade  of  red.  Some 
of  these  costumes  are  very  handsome,  and  be- 
coming to  the  owner. 

From  the  markets  we  went  to  the  Egyptian 
cemetery,  and  a  more  desolate  spot  it  would  be 
impossible  to  imagine.  The  graves  are  all  cov- 
ered with  small  white  clay  ovens,  to  all  appear- 
ance, with  a  little  chimney-pot  at  each  end,  and 
there  is  not  a  tree,  a  shrub,  or  a  blade  of  grass 
in  the  whole  place. 

To  refresh  ourselves,  after  this  doleful  sight, 
we  drove  out  of  town  to  see  some  beautiful  gar- 
dens, which  once  belonged  to  the  late  Khedive, 
but  which  he  gave  to  a  Greek  friend  of  his,  some 
years  ago,  as  a  mark  of  favor,  or  as  our  guide 
said  "  as  backsheesh." 

On  Saturday  morning  at  nine  o'clock  we  found 
ourselves  in  a  very  comfortable  railroad  car,  with 
our  faces  set  toward  Cairo.  On  the  way,  we 
were  continually  entertained  and  amused  by 
what  we  saw  from  the  windows.  To  be  sure  the 
country  is  flat,  has  comparatively  few  trees,  and 
the  villages  are  built  of  clay,  but  the  ground  was 
well  tilled,  and  wheat,  beans,  and  grass  were  grow- 
ing in  abundance.  The  whole  country  was  dotted 
over  with  camels,  donkeys,  sheep,  and  goats,  and 


there  were  quite  as  many  people  to  be  seen  as 
animals. 

The  villages  were  very  numerous,  as  the  people 
live  in  communities  and  are  not  isolated  as  they 
are  in  our  own  country.  The  mud  huts  were 
huddled  close  together  and  resembled  the  old- 
fashioned  oval  beehives.  That  was  the  only 
point  of  resemblance,  however,  for  people  and 
animals  have  their  shelter  in  common,  and  the 
sights  and  odors  of  these  villages  are  disagree- 
able to  one  unaccustomed  to  them.  It  seemed 
odd  enough  to  be  whirling  along  on  an  express 
train,  which  was  really  express  too,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  be  looking  out  at  stately  camels 
marching  majestically  along,  wearing  a  scornful 
expression  with  their  noses  in  the  air,  and  bear- 
ing on  their  backs  sometimes  huge  trusses  of 
grass  suspended  by  straps  and  an  Arab  seated  on 
the  top  wrapped  in  his  cloak.  We  saw  donkeys, 
camels,  and  goats  all  quietly  grazing  together, 
and  donkeys  laden  with  panniers  so  large  and 
well  filled  as  almost  to  conceal  the  little  creatures 
and  perhaps  carrying  a  man  as  well.  Donkeys 
and  camels  are  the  beasts  of  burden  here,  and  are 
well  employed  too.  One  of  the  chief  diversions 
for  visitors  coming  to  Cairo  is  to  ride  donkeys 
through  the  streets  with  the  driver  running  be- 
hind, pushing  and  whipping  continually.  Some 
of  the  donkeys  are  very  cute  and  pretty  and  have 
a  real  knowing  look. 

The  station  at  Cairo  on  our  arrival  was  a  scene 
of  confusion,  almost  if  not  quite  equal  to  our 


landing  experience.  Natives  clamored  for  our 
luggage,  the  hotel  runners  were  everywhere,  and 
the  noise  was  enough  to  drive  a  nervous  person 
distracted ;  fortunately  we  are  not  troubled  with 
nerves,  so  were  amused  and  not  dismayed,  and 
soon  found  ourselves  in  the  great  omnibus 
marked  "  Shepheard's  Hotel."  After  a  few 
minutes'  rapid  drive  along  rather  narrow  and 
quaint,  but  well  paved  streets,  we  were  at  the 
hotel  itself,  where  we  were  expected  and  where 
we  have  been  ever  since.  One  has  a  view  of 
pyramids  from  the  car  window  before  reaching 
Cairo,  but  it  is  a  distant  one  and  not  very  satis- 
factory ;  so  the  first  drive  we  took  was  out  to 
see  them.  There  is  an  avenue  arched*  by  trees 
of  fine  size  which  is  several  miles  in  length,  and 
which  leads  directly  to  those  huge  monuments 
of  Egypt's  ancient  glory,  and  the  scenery  is 
quite  picturesque  on  the  way.  We  crossed  the 
Nile  and  found  it  a  large  and  beautiful  river, 
with  boats  of  all  sizes  moored  by  the  landing 
stages,  but  it  was  hard  to  realize  that  the  won- 
derful stream  whose  annual  overflow  has  always 
created  so  much  wonder  in  my  mind  was  actually 
at  my  feet. 

The  pyramids  are  generally  a  little  disappoint- 
ing at  first,  because  they  do  not  seem  as  large  as 
the  imagination  has  painted  them  ;  but  very  soon 
they  assume  greater  proportions,  until  all  else 
seems  as  nothing  beside  them.  I  presume  we 
shall  find  them  plenty  high  and  broad  enough 
when  we  make  the  ascent.  If  the  weather  should 


(  130  ) 

be  fine,  we  shall  attempt  it  on  Saturday,  and  my 
next  letter  will  tell  you  how  we  felt  afterwards. 
It  seems  that  not  many  ladies  go  up  to  the  top 
of  Cheops,  and  people  look  rather  surprised  when 
they  hear  that  we  mean  to  do  it. 

We  have  seen  several  old  mosques  which  were 
quite  interesting.  The  one  which  made  most 
impression  upon  us  was  the  University  Mosque 
where  most  Mohammedans  come  to  be  educated. 
It  is  the  principal  university  of  Egypt,  and  the 
students  remain  from  three  to  five  years,  or  until 
they  have  mastered  the  Koran.  We  saw  the 
students  at  work,  sitting  each  one  on  his  goatskin 
on  the  flagging  of  an  immense  courtyard,  which 
is  surrounded  by  the  mosque,  and  they  often 
sleep  there  too.  It  seemed  rather  inferior  to  the 
accommodations  and  comforts  of  our  colleges  in 
America.  When  a  man  has  finished  learning  the 
Koran  and  can  read  and  write  in  Arabic,  his  edu- 
cation is  considered  complete  and  he  may  then 
be  a  teacher  or  priest. 

To-day  we  went  out  several  miles  to  see  an 
obelisk  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  town  of  Heli- 
opolis,  or  On,  as  it  is  called  in  the  Bible.  It  was 
a  city  of  about  twelve  thousand  inhabitants,  and 
was  in  existence  before  Abraham.  The  obelisk 
is  called  Pharaoh's  Needle,  but  no  one  knows 
which  Pharaoh  erected  it.  It  is  covered  with 
hieroglyphics,  is  sixty-six  feet  high,  and  stands 
in  the  land  of  Goshen.  On  our  way  home  we 
were  shown  a  huge  sycamore  tree  which  is  said  to 
grow  on  the  spot  where  another  tree  of  the  same 


kind  gave  shelter  and  a  resting  place  to  the  Vir- 
gin on  the  flight  from  Egypt.  There  are  many 
legends  of  this  sort  in  Egypt,  as  in  Italy,  which 
are  confidently  believed  by  the  people. 

The  sacred  bird  of  Egypt  is  the  ibis,  and  we 
saw  many  of  them  this  afternoon.  They  are 
pure  white,  resembling  a  wild  duck  in  size  and 
shape,  and  do  not  appear  very  timid.  We  also 
saw  that  huge  bird,  the  African  ostrich,  at  home 
to-day,  when  we  visited  an  ostrich  farm  and 
found  eight  hundred  of  them,  ranging  from  two 
days  to  forty  years  in  age,  and  in  size  from  one 
foot  to  eight  in  height. 

Cairo  is  a  large  and  rather  handsome  city,  and 
there  are  many  interesting  things  to  see  here, 
especially  in  the  bazaars,  the  native  Egyptian 
shops.  They  are  not  as  picturesque  as  those  of 
Constantinople  or  Smyrna,  but  have  many  beau- 
tiful things  which  are  tempting  to  visitors.  Cairo 
lacks  in  coloring  also,  as  the  dresses  are  not  so 
brilliant  and  the  few  domes  are  not  so  glittering 
as  in  Constantinople ;  but  this  has  more  of  Eastern 
life  in  the  constant  presence  of  the  camels  and 
donkeys. 

The  Khedive  is  quite  a  feature  of  Cairo,  for 
he  does  not  hide  himself  from  his  people,  as  the 
Sultan  does.  He  passes  the  hotel  twice  every  day 
and  has  a  pleasant  smile  and  salute  for  every 
one ;  I  have  seen  him  twice.  He  spends  each 
day  at  his  palace  in  town,  and  goes  out  every 
night  to  his  mother's  palace,  several  miles  away. 
We  passed  it  to-day,  and  it  is  very  unpreten- 


(    13*    ) 

tious  in  appearance,  —  has  orange  groves  about 
it  and  looks  like  a  gentleman's  country  resi- 
dence. 

We  hope  to  leave  for  our  trip  up  the  Nile 
on  Tuesday  next,  and  will  be  away  three  weeks. 
Several  boats  went  this  week,  but  the  weather  is 
so  cold  I  fear  they  will  not  have  a  pleasant  time. 
We  hear  of  very  severe  weather  in  America,  and 
are  glad  to  have  escaped  it ;  it  is  unusually  cold 
for  Cairo.  Yesterday  we  had  a  severe  sand  storm 
which  was  so  much  worse  at  Alexandria  that  the 
steamers  could  not  get  into  the  harbor  ;  conse- 
quently, our  mail  has  not  yet  arrived.  We  hope 
for  our  first  batch  of  letters  before  going  up  the 
river.  Love  to  all  the  family,  and  especially  to 
yourself. 

Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE  McMlLLAN. 

CAIRO,  January  29,  1893. 
MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

I  did  hope  very  much  to  get  letters  from  home 
before  starting  up  the  Nile,  but  we  go  on  Tues- 
day, and  there  will  not  be  another  American  mail 
in  before  that  time.  We  will  leave  orders  to  have 
our  mail  sent  to  Cook's  care,  and  it  will  follow 
us.  I  have  had  four  letters,  one  each  from  Ger- 
trude, Lucie,  Mrs.  Lavin,  and  Patie.  Since  our 
wind  storm  on  Wednesday,  which  reminded  me 
very  much  of  Eddy,  the  weather  has  been  lovely. 
The  air  is  bracing  but  warm  in  the  sun,  and  is 
gradually  growing  warmer,  so  we  will  probably 
find  real  June  days  on  our  return  three  weeks 


(  "33  ) 

from  Tuesday.  We  are  very  glad  not  to  have 
started  any  sooner  on  that  trip,  for  it  was  so  cold 
that  much  of  the  pleasure  of  sitting  on  deck 
would  have  been  spoiled.  The  boats  which  left 
on  Wednesday  were  very  much  impeded  by  the 
sand  blocking  up  the  channel,  and  Cook's  boat 
did  not  even  get  away  from  the  dock  that  day. 
Of  course  the  passengers  dared  not  go  away  for 
fear  the  boat  might  leave  without  them.  We 
smiled  and  said,  "  Our  usual  good  luck  attends 
us,  even  in  Egypt."  We  have  been  making  good 
use  of  our  time,  and  our  dragoman,  Louis,  this 
week,  or  rather  last  week,  as  this  is  Sunday.  We 
have  seen  several  more  interesting  mosques,  and 
the  finest  and  most  recent  is  situated  on  the  cita- 
del hill.  It  is  the  mosque  in  which  Mohammed 
Ali  surprised  and  murdered  the  Mamelukes,  and 
we  saw  the  embankment  over  which  one  of  them 
leaped  on  horseback  and  escaped.  The  mosque 
is  enormous,  and  is  completely  faced,  both  in- 
side and  out,  with  alabaster,  and  is  a  magnificent 
and  imposing  structure.  Looking  at  it  from  a 
distance  it  reminds  me  of  the  Church  of  Our 
Saviour,  in  Moscow.  The  sanctuary  itself  is 
carpeted  with  immense  Persian  rugs  of  great 
value  and  beauty.  They  could  not  have  cost  less 
than  $10,000,  and  probably  more.  In  the  after- 
noon we  went  to  see  the  Howling  and  Dancing 
Dervishes,  and  I  must  acknowledge  that  when 
the  creatures  got  really  warmed  up  to  their  work 
in  this  religious  ceremony,  it  was  horrible.  The 
bendings,  twistings,  contortions  of  arms,  head, 


(   134) 

and  body,  combined  with  the  groans,  grunts,  and 
howls  which  accompanied  the  movements,  made 
a  spectacle  which  was  simply  indescribable.  In- 
side the  semicircle  of  holy  men,  who  were  going 
through  such  violent  exercises,  there  were  several 
dancers  who  turned  about  on  their  feet  and  with 
closed  eyes  and  outstretched  arms,  at  first  slowly, 
then  faster  and  faster  until  they  made  from  forty 
to  fifty  gyrations  in  a  minute.  There  was  music, 
too,  a  flute  and  some  drumlike  instruments. 
We  were  glad  for  the  performers  and  for  our- 
selves, too,  that  the  service  only  lasted  an  hour 
Afterwards  we  went  to  the  Isle  of  Roda,  across 
an  arm  of  the  Nile,  in  a  scow.  It  is  on  the 
shore  of  this  island  that  Moses  is  said  to  have 
been  found,  but  no  one  knows  the  spot,  and  the 
bulrushes  all  disappeared  long  ago.  We  had 
planned  to  ascend  the  pyramid  yesterday,  and  as 
Alice  had  a  headache,  and  did  not  intend  making 
the  ascent  any  way,  Kate  and  I  went  alone,  but 
with  our  faithful  Louis  in  attendance.  It  is  nine 
miles'  drive  out  there,  although  from  the  citadel 
the  other  day  it  seemed  just  across  a  meadow. 
On  the  way  we  passed  hundreds  of  loaded  camels, 
and  their  keepers,  who  were  either  riding  on  top 
with  a  swaying  motion,  inevitable  when  on  camel- 
back,  or  walking  by  the  side  of  these  stately  ships 
of  the  desert.  Arrived  at  our  destination,  Louis 
made  all  the  arrangements  with  one  of  the  two 
sheiks  of  the  Pyramids,  who  selected  our  guides  for 
us.  They  were  not  to  annoy  us  about  backsheesh, 
while  away  from  Louis,  and  were  to  bring  us  back 


on  the  same  side  and  not  take  us  down  the  other 
way.  When  all  the  promises  had  been  made,  with 
our  skirts  well  tucked  up  we  started,  each  with 
four  attendants,  one  on  each  side  and  another  to 
push,  while  the  two  extra  ones  were  employed, 
one  in  carrying  my  wrap  and  the  other  bearing  a 
water  bottle,  or,  rather,  stone  jar.  The  steps  are 
by  no  means  regular  as  I  had  always  supposed, 
but  are  anywhere  from  one  and  a  half  to  three 
feet  high,  while  some  are  but  narrow  ledges  and 
others  are  very  wide.  The  uniform  appearance  of 
the  pyramid  from  below  would  give  one  the  im- 
pression that  it  could  be  mounted  like  a  flight  of 
stairs,  but  instead  of  that  our  path  was  very  zig- 
zag indeed,  the  guides  choosing  the  easiest  steps, 
both  for  themselves  and  for  us.  Our  men  were 
exceedingly  nice  to  us,  giving  us  ample  assistance 
and  allowing  us  to  rest  as  often  as  we  pleased, 
thus  disproving  the  statement  that  has  been  often 
made  that  the  guides  always  insist  upon  going  up 
very  fast  and  pull  one's  arms  almost  out  of  the 
sockets,  to  say  nothing  of  the  detriment  to  the 
clothing.  We  were  very  warm  and  pretty  tired 
when  we  reached  the  summit,  in  less  than  half  an 
hour,  but  we  rested  there  quite  a  long  time,  look- 
ing out  on  two  deserts,  with  only  a  long  strip 
of  fertile  land  between.  It  was  certainly  a  view 
which  one  seldom  sees,  and  although  not  at  all 
beautiful,  nor  even  picturesque,  was  exceedingly 
interesting  to  us,  and  one  we  would  not  have 
missed  for  twice  the  fatigue.  While  we  were  at 
the  summit  one  of  the  Arabs,  who  had  joined  our 


(  136  ) 

procession  but  was  not  one  of  our  guides,  begged 
us  to  allow  him,  for  a  small  backsheesh,  to  run 
down  Cheops,  across  the  sand,  and  up  Chephren, 
the  next  largest  pyramid,  and  bring  a  bit  of  marble 
from  the  very  top  of  it,  and  finally  we  consented. 
He  did  it  in  an  incredibly  short  time,  and  when 
we  reached  the  ground  he  was  there  before  us  to 
claim  his  reward. 

When  we  were  at  the  hotel  near  the  Pyramids 
the  standing  space  at  the  top  of  Cheops  seemed  to 
be  about  a  yard  square,  but  it  is  in  reality  thirty- 
six  feet.  Before  commencing  the  descent  one  of 
my  guides  unwound  his  turban  cloth  from  his 
head  and  tied  it  about  my  waist.  Kate  had  the 
same  arrangement.  Then  two  men  went  before 
and  assisted  me  down  the  steps,  while  the  third 
held  me  firmly  with  his  extemporized  rope,  and 
in  a  very  few  minutes  we  were  again  at  the  en- 
trance to  the  great  mausoleum  but  still  forty-eight 
feet  from  the  ground.  As  we  were  doing  the 
pyramid  we  concluded  to  go  inside  and  visit 
the  king's  and  queen's  chambers  too.  The  same 
guides,  now  with  lighted  candles,  assisted  us  down 
a  passage  only  a  little  more  than  three  feet  high, 
where  the  steps  v/ere  only  shallow,  smooth  hol- 
lows quite  two  feet  apart,  and  where  the  sand  and 
bats  seemed  much  more  at  home  than  we  did. 
After  going  down  some  distance  we  began  to  go 
up,  and  it  was  a  tug  of  war,  I  can  tell  you ;  but 
coming  down  was  even  harder,  and  in  one  place 
my  guide  took  me  in  his  arms  and  lifted  me 
bodily.  He  had  an  armful  for  once,  and  I  think 


(  137  ) 

he  appreciated  the  fact,  too.  These  passages  have 
an  odor  that  is  like  nothing  I  ever  smelled 
before,  and  I  can  get  along  very  well  without 
experiencing  it  again.  The  air  was  close,  and 
we  were  glad  to  get  into  the  king's  chamber 
where  two  air  shafts  made  life  a  little  more  en- 
durable. Here  is  the  huge  granite  sarcophagus 
which  is  supposed  to  have  been  Cheops'  coffin. 
The  walls  are  lined  with  great  granite  blocks,  and 
now  the  bats  are  the  only  occupants.  Of  course 
we  climbed  into  the  sarcophagus,  and  as  Kate's 
guide  had  said  something  to  her  about  Mr. 
Cheops,  we  called  ourselves  Mrs.  and  Miss 
Cheops.  On  our  way  out  we  visited  the  queen's 
chamber,  where  a  large  sarcophagus  once  rested 
inside  of  one  wall  of  the  room,  but  as  it  had  been 
removed  to  the  museum  there  was  nothing  but 
the  hole  it  had  once  occupied.  When  we  emerged 
into  daylight  again  we  presented  a  very  disheveled 
appearance,  but  Louis  brushed  us  off  and  we  let 
down  our  dresses,  got  into  our  carriage  and  drove 
over  the  few  hundred  yards  to  the  fine  hotel  which 
was  built  a  few  years  ago,  and  had  lunch.  After 
luncheon  we  wrapped  up  well  to  avoid  taking  cold, 
and  came  home,  having  had,  as  Miss  Merriam 
would  have  said,  "a  wonderful  day."  The  entire 
time  from  the  beginning  of  the  ascent  until  we 
came  out  from  the  interior  was  an  hour  and  forty- 
five  minutes.  A  gentleman  who  was  there  when 
we  had  finished  said  we  were  very  brave. 

Last  night  we  went  for  a  drive  by  moonlight 
and  saw  an  Egyptian  Fair,  which  I  will  describe 


to  Will  in  a  day  or  two.  We  are  going  to  have 
full  moon  on  the  Nile,  and  are  anticipating  the 
trip  with  much  pleasure.  I  must  try  to  write  a 
few  more  letters  to-day,  but  will  deal  only  in  gen- 
eralities, as  I  really  have  not  time  to  go  into  de- 
tails excepting  to  my  family.  We  have  to  study 
as  well  as  see  all  these  things,  and  letter-writing 
takes  a  great  deal  of  time,  so  my  friends  must  not 
expect  to  hear  much  from  me  excepting  through 
you.  Much  love  to  you  and  Will,  in  which 
Alice  and  Kate  join  heartily. 
Your  loving  wife, 

LIZZIE  McMiLLAN. 

ON  THE  NILE,  February  2,  1893. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

During  the  past  week  I  have  seen  and  experi- 
enced so  much  of  the  wonders  and  antiquities 
of  ancient  Egypt  that,  had  I  time  and  a  fluent 
tongue,  I  could  not  do  the  subject  justice. 

The  more  one  sees  of  Egypt,  the  more  one  is 
impressed  with  the  intelligence,  courage,  and  per- 
severance of  the  people  who  once  ruled  here,  and 
amazed  at  the  wonderful  work  they  accomplished. 
One  glance  at  the  pyramids  will  give  a  person  a 
better  idea  of  the  power  of  the  nation  than  any 
amount  of  reading  could  do,  as  I  realized  espe- 
cially after  climbing  to  the  top  of  Cheops.  At 
last  I  have  actually  accomplished  what  compara- 
tively few  women  undertake.  Last  Saturday  Kate 
and  I  made  the  ascent  of  the  great  pyramid  of 
Gizeh. 


We  left  Cairo  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
attended  by  our  faithful  dragoman,  and  had  a 
charming  drive  of  nine  miles,  some  of  the  way 
by  the  side  of  the  Nile,  which  we  crossed  on  a 
very  fine  iron  bridge ;  then  along  an  avenue 
arched  and  shaded  by  large  acacia  trees,  until  we 
reached  the  edge  of  the  Libyan  desert,  and  found 
ourselves  at  the  foot  of  the  mammoth  mass  of 
masonry. 

Louis  made  all  the  arrangements  for  our  trip 
with  the  sheik  of  the  pyramids,  stipulating  that 
we  were  not  to  be  hurried,  nor  annoyed  by  de- 
mands for  backsheesh,  and  that  we  were  to  go 
and  come  by  the  same  route.  After  tucking  up 
our  skirts  and  discarding  wraps,  we  were  ready  to 
start.  I  had  four  dusky  Arabs  clothed  in  white  to 
attend  me,  —  one  on  either  side,  one  to  push,  and 
one  to  carry  my  cloak,  which  it  was  supposed  I 
would  need  when  the  summit  had  been  attained. 
The  steps  are  by  no  means  regular,  as  I  had  al- 
ways supposed,  but  are  anywhere  from  one  and 
a  half  to  three  feet  high,  some  being  mere  ledges, 
and  others  very  wide. 

The  uniform  appearance  of  the  pyramid  from 
below  would  give  the  impression  that  one  could 
mount  it  like  a  flight  of  stairs,  but  instead  of  that 
our  path  was  very  zigzag  —  the  guides  choosing 
the  easiest  path,  both  for  our  sakes  and  their 
own.  Our  men  were  exceedingly  nice  to  us,  giv- 
ing ample  assistance,  and  allowing  us  to  rest  as 
often  as  we  pleased,  —  thus  fairly  earning  the 
"  good  backsheesh  "  they  implored  us  to  give 


(  140  ) 

them  when  they  should  have  arrived  safely  at 
the  bottom  again.  We  were  rather  breathless 
when  we  reached  the  top,  but  by  no  means  ex- 
hausted, having  made  the  ascent  in  less  than 
half  an  hour. 

Cheops  is  about  480  feet  high,  although  differ- 
ent writers  vary  in  their  estimates.  I  am  quite 
sure  my  figures  are  none  too  high,  and  every 
one  who  has  climbed  that  vast  monument  will 
certainly  agree  with  me.  From  the  top,  where 
the  platform  is  thirty-six  feet  square,  we  had  an 
extended  view  of  two  deserts,  —  the  Arabian 
and  the  Libyan,  separated  only  by  a  narrow  strip 
of  fertile  land,  which  is  a  very  oasis  in  the  desert. 
It  was  a  view  which  one  seldom  sees,  and  al- 
though not  beautiful  in  one  sense,  was  quite  pic- 
turesque and  exceedingly  interesting ;  also  a  view 
I  would  not  have  missed  for  twice  the  fatigue 
experienced. 

We  rested  nearly  half  an  hour,  then,  before 
beginning  the  descent,  one  of  my  guides  unwound 
the  turban  from  his  head  and  tied  it  about  my 
waist.  Kate's  guide  did  the  same  for  her,  and 
in  this  way  we  made  our  way  to  the  ground  ; 
two  men  to  assist  us  down  from  step  to  step, 
and  the  third  to  hold  us  firmly  by  his  impro- 
vised rope. 

About  forty-eight  feet  from  the  ground  is  the 
opening  leading  to  the  interior,  and  as  soon  as  our 
guides  had  been  provided  with  lighted  candles,  we 
entered  a  passage  which  descended  at  an  angle  of 
forty-five  degrees  and  had  only  notches  in  the 


(  HI ) 

rocks  for  steps.  But  for  the  firm  support  of  the 
guides,  whose  bare  feet  clung  to  the  stone  and 
whose  strong  arms  supported  us,  we  could  not 
have  made  this  trip. 

After  going  down  some  distance  we  commenced 
going  up  in  the  same  way,  and  finally,  after  much 
exertion,  reached  the  kings'  chamber,  where  lies 
the  granite  sarcophagus  of  which  Henry  M. 
Field  speaks  in  his  account  of  the  visit  he  made 
to  the  interior  of  Cheops  by  night.  Night  and 
day  are  the  same  in  that  vast  sepulchre,  for  the 
darkness  is  so  dense  it  seems  as  if  one  could  cut 
it  with  a  knife.  With  the  help  of  the  Arabs, 
slipping  and  sliding,  we  came  down  from  the 
kings'  chamber,  and  then,  bending  to  traverse  a 
passage  about  three  and  a  half  feet  high  and  four 
feet  wide,  we  entered  the  Queens'  chamber,  which 
is  now  entirely  empty,  the  sarcophagus  which 
was  formerly  in  a  hole  in  the  wall  having  been 
taken  to  the  museum  at  Cairo. 

We  presented  rather  a  dusty  and  heated  ap- 
pearance when  we  finally  emerged  into  the  bright 
sunlight  again,  but  were  very  happy  that  we  had 
explored  the  great  pyramid  both  outside  and 
inside. 

From  the  top  of  the  pyramid,  Cairo  seemed 
to  be  almost  at  our  feet,  for  the  atmosphere 
of  Egypt  is  so  clear  that  distances  are  very  de- 
ceptive. 

Cheops  is  the  largest  pyramid  in  Egypt  and 
covers  thirteen  acres  of  ground.  Its  huge  dimen- 
sions are  better  appreciated  when  one  is  standing 


on  the  ground  at  its  base,  although  when  looking 
down  upon  people  from  its  summit  they  seemed 
like  flies  crawling  along. 

We  did  not  visit  the  Sphinx  that  day,  nor  ride 
on  a  camel,  but  have  reserved  something  to  do 
when  we  get  back  to  Cairo.  We  felt  sorry  to 
leave  that  fascinating  city,  but  expect  to  have 
a  month  there  on  our  return  from  the  Nile. 

Tuesday  morning  found  us  nicely  settled  on 
board  "  Rameses  the  Great."  It  is  a  large  and 
very  comfortable  boat ;  it  has  two  decks,  which 
are  inclosed  in  canvas  at  night  and  lighted  by 
electricity. 

There  are  a  number  of  staterooms  on  the 
upper  deck,  but  the  space  is  mostly  given  up  to 
the  pleasant  writing  room,  the  dining  salon,  and 
the  open-air  parlor  in  the  centre,  which  has 
handsome  rugs,  large  easy  chairs,  tables,  etc. 
We  are  on  the  lower  deck,  where  all  of  the 
rooms  open  on  the  outside,  and  when  we  sit  in 
our  camp  chairs  by  our  doors,  it  reminds  one  of 
the  patriarchs  of  old,  who  sat  at  their  tent  doors 
and  looked  out  across  the  desert.  It  is  not  al- 
ways desert,  though,  for  along  the  narrow  strip 
of  land  between  river  and  desert  there  are  many 
beautiful  green  spots  and  groves  of  palm-trees. 
I  never  realized  how  stately  and  beautiful  the 
palms  were  until  we  started  up  the  Nile.  This 
is  the  home  of  the  palm,  and  any  other  kind  of 
tree  seems  quite  out  of  place  here. 

The  Nile  is  a  most  tortuous  stream,  and  often 
changes  its  shore  line  from  day  to  day.  This  is 


why  our  boats  lie  still  at  night,  as  navigation  is 
not  easy,  and  without  watchful  care  we  might 
find  ourselves  on  a  sandbank  at  any  time. 

Last  night  we  anchored  about  dark  in  the 
middle  of  the  stream,  and  the  full  moon  rose, 
making  the  scene  indescribably  beautiful.  Tues- 
day afternoon  we  made  one  of  the  excursions 
from  the  boat,  which  are  of  almost  daily  oc- 
currence, to  see  the  ruins  of  ancient  Memphis. 
A  motley  crowd  of  donkeys  and  donkey  boys 
received  us  on  the  shore,  and  amidst  much  pull- 
ing this  way  and  that,  and  shouting  by  the  eager 
boys,  almost  the  whole  of  our  ship's  company 
soon  started  on  donkeys  in  a  procession  which 
was  very  ridiculous  in  appearance,  and  also  very 
picturesque.  I  happened  to  be  nearly  at  the  end 
of  the  cavalcade,  and  was  much  interested  and 
amused  to  see  seventy-five  people,  disguised  and 
disfigured  by  all  sorts  of  horrors  in  the  shape  of 
sun-hats,  winding  along  the  embankment,  which 
is  the  highway  of  the  country,  each  with  an  at- 
tendant running  along  behind,  alternately  push- 
ing his  poor  little  donkey,  or  belaboring  him  with 
a  stick. 

My  donkey  was  very  amiable  and  easy,  and 
so  I  had  a  very  comfortable  trip.  We  rode  alto- 
gether about  nine  miles  that  afternoon,  dismount- 
ing four  or  five  times  to  view  different  monuments 
or  mausoleums,  and  we  were  over  four  hours 
making  the  excursion.  Yesterday  we  did  no- 
thing in  the  way  of  sight  seeing  excepting  from 
the  deck  of  our  steamer. 


(   144  ) 

The  Nile  varies  from  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to 
a  mile  in  width,  and  resembles  in  color  and  cur- 
rent the  Mississippi.  The  shores  are  sometimes 
low  and  sometimes  quite  like  the  palisades  of 
the  Hudson,  now  green  and  fertile,  with  palm 
groves  stretching  along  for  miles,  and  then  only 
sandy  desert  or  sand  hills  are  to  be  seen. 

The  fertile  country  on  either  side  of  the  Nile  is 
but  a  narrow  strip,  and  then  there  is  the  Arabian 
desert  on  the  east,  and  the  Libyan  on  the  west. 

The  scenery  along  the  Nile  is  wonderfully 
fascinating  in  spite  of  these  limitations.  The 
river  itself  is  full  of  life,  with  its  numerous  boats 
with  butterfly-shaped  sails  scudding  before  the 
wind,  filled  with  swarthy  natives  whose  mantles 
float  out  with  the  breeze  like  small  black  flags, 
also  brown  sheep,  and  goats,  donkeys,  and  even 
camels.  Yesterday  we  saw  them  embarking  some 
camels,  and  the  poor  beasts  did  not  enjoy  the 
prospect  of  a  boat  ride  very  much,  judging  from 
their  motions.  This  afternoon  we  are  lying  at 
the  dock  of  Beni  Hassan,  and  about  forty  of  our 
number  have  gone  away  on  donkeys  to  see  some 
more  wonderful  old  tombs.  None  of  our  party 
went,  as  the  trip  promised  to  be  a  hard  one,  and 
there  is  a  wind-storm  going  on  which  makes  rid- 
ing over  the  sand  most  unpleasant.  Besides, 
these  ruins  are  not  nearly  as  interesting  as  some 
we  shall  see  later,  so  we  are  content  to  wait  a 
few  days.  Yesterday  was  a  beautiful  day,  warm 
and  clear,  while  to-day  is  cloudy  and  cold  as  well 
as  windy. 


We  expect  to  be  away  from  Cairo  three  weeks, 
and  on  our  return  there  will  finally  decide  about 
going  to  Palestine.  There  will  be  many  days  of 
riding  on  horseback  if  we  take  the  trip  we  most 
desire  to  take,  and  it  may  seem  too  difficult  to 
attempt. 

I  am  looking  now  for  letters  from  home,  and 
hope  to  hear  very  soon  from  you  all.    Love  to 
all  relatives  and  friends,  and  most  of  all  to  you. 
Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

STEAMER  RAMESES  THE  GREAT. 
Sunday,  February  5,  1893. 

MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

I  wrote  you  on  the  first  day  of  the  month  and 
gave  you  some  of  our  experiences  on  the  Nile. 
Since  then  the  days  have  been  golden,  whether 
we  sailed  or  rode  donkeys,  and  every  day  we  say 
"  William  must  take  this  trip,  for  he  would  so 
enjoy  the  restful  hours  on  the  boat,  when  one 
needs  do  nothing  excepting  use  one's  eyes,  and 
he  would  like  the  donkey  riding  ever  so  much." 
We  always  anchor  for  the  night  in  the  middle  of 
the  stream,  as  the  river  is  so  variable  in  its  shores 
and  currents  that  it  is  not  safe  to  travel  at  night. 
The  moon  has  been  glorious  and  the  sunsets 
more  than  beautiful.  The  days  are  sunny,  gen- 
erally, although  sometimes  misty,  and  the  air  is 
often  crisp  and  yet  often  soft  and  balmy.  I  can- 
not begin  to  tell  you  how  much  we  are  enjoying 
it,  and  how  often  we  speak  of  your  goodness  in 
letting  us  have  this  charming  trip. 


(  146  ) 

On  Thursday  at  noon  we  arrived  at  Beni  Has- 
san, and  if  you  could  only  have  been  here  to  wit- 
ness the  scene !  No  tongue  could  describe  it. 
Cook's  boat  wharf  has  stowed  away  in  its  hold  a 
large  number  of  saddles,  which  the  natives  are 
allowed  to  put  on  their  donkeys,  for  the  use  of 
the  passengers.  When  we  arrived,  there  was  wild 
excitement  among  the  natives,  who  were  fighting 
with  each  other  for  the  possession  of  the  precious 
saddles.  At  last  some  soldiers  who  are  stationed 
at  that  place  to  keep  the  people  in  order,  and  some 
of  our  own  people,  took  sticks  and  chased  the 
crowd  away.  They  retreated  a  short  distance,  with 
waving  garments  and  bare  legs  very  prominent, 
to  return  to  the  onslaught  as  soon  as  an  oppor- 
tunity offered.  It  reminded  one  of  a  flock  of 
crows  being  driven  from  a  cornfield,  and  indeed 
was  a  most  grotesque  sight. 

After  luncheon  was  over  the  sightseers  sallied 
forth  to  inspect  the  tombs  to  be  seen,  but  as  a 
wind  storm  was  in  full  action,  and  we  knew  how 
pleasant  that  was  from  past  experience,  we  three 
decided  to  remain  quietly  on  the  boat.  It  was  a 
short  excursion,  for  the  people  were  not  gone  very 
long,  and  an  uninteresting  one,  too,  I  judge,  from 
the  silence  that  followed  it,  so  we  were  not  sorry 
to  have  missed  it.  Beni  Hassan  is  the  town  which 
Mohammed  Ali  once  caused  to  be  destroyed,  be- 
cause the  people  were  such  thievish  rascals,  and 
the  guide-book  says  they  are  not  much  better 
now.  I  can  well  believe  it,  from  seeing  them,  and 
some  of  the  passengers  had  to  fight  their  way  back 


to  the  boat,  because  the  donkey  boys  insisted  on 
having  more  backsheesh  than  was  their  due,  or  the 
passengers  willing  to  pay.  We  had  a  gorgeous 
yellow  and  red  sunset  that  night,  and  just  as  its 
glow  was  dying  out  we  arrived  at  Roda,  the  seat 
of  a  large  sugar  manufactory.  There  are  a  good 
many  sugar  refineries  on  the  Nile,  as  sugar-cane 
is  extensively  grown,  and  forms  the  main  part  of 
the  food  for  the  country  people.  Quite  a  num- 
ber of  our  people  went  up  to  see  the  factory,  but 
we  were  more  interested  in  a  group  of  Arabs  on 
a  boat  near  us,  who  were  preparing  supper  on  a 
pan  of  coals.  After  the  food  was  ready  they  all 
sat  around  the  pan  on  the  floor,  and  each  one 
"stuck  in  his  thumb  and  pulled  out  a  plum." 
It  did  not  look  very  tempting  to  us,  but  they 
seemed  to  relish  it.  After  supper  one  by  one 
they  climbed  down  to  the  rudder  of  the  boat, 
and  tucking  up  their  garments  and  rolling  up 
their  sleeves  performed  their  ablutions,  washing 
faces,  mouths,  arms,  hands,  and  feet.  After  letting 
down  their  garments,  and  wiping  themselves  on 
their  skirts,  they  proceeded  to  replace  the  outside 
mantle  over  shoulders  and  heads,  and  then  at- 
tended to  their  devotions.  They  all  seemed  to 
be  very  pious,  but  while  some  of  them  were  pray- 
ing in  a  loud  tone  and  kneeling  devoutly  others 
were  grinning  and  begging  us  for  backsheesh. 

Friday  afternoon  we  reached  Assiout,  which 
used  to  be  one  of  the  most  important  towns  on 
the  Nile,  when  the  caravans  of  Persia,  laden  with 
beautiful  stuffs,  used  to  stop  there.  It  is  a  fine 


town  now  with  a  large  population,  has  several 
consuls,  and  the  American  Presbyterians  have 
extensive  mission  schools  there.  We  found  a 
number  of  steamers  there  and  several  daha- 
beahs  all  covered  with  flags,  and  one  floated  the 
American  flag.  The  town  was  profusely  deco- 
rated with  red  bunting,  red  flags,  lanterns  with 
candles,  and  colored  designs  for  floating  wicks. 
It  was  a  very  pretty  sight,  and  all  this  gorgeous- 
ness  was  on  the  Khedive's  account,  who  was  to 
arrive  on  Friday  night  to  open  a  railroad.  We 
had  a  dance  on  board  that  night,  and  next  morn- 
ing, Saturday,  at  8.30,  we  mounted  our  donkeys 
and  started  off  to  see  the  caves  in  the  Libyan 
hills,  where  the  sacred  wolf  used  to  be  buried.  I 
enjoyed  the  ride  much  more  than  the  tombs, 
which  were  mere  holes  in  the  mountains.  My 
donkey  cantered  beautifully,  my  saddle  was  com- 
fortable, and  I  was  actually  sorry  to  get  back  to 
the  ship.  Some  of  our  people  were  anxious  to 
remain  over  and  see  the  illuminations  last  night 
on  the  arrival  of  the  Khedive,  but  the  manage- 
ment decided  it  would  be  best  to  go  on,  so  our 
time  for  leaving  being  twelve  o'clock  noon,  yes- 
terday, we  started  punctually.  Another  steamer 
arrived  from  Cairo  just  before  we  left,  and  we  had 
salutations  from  some  Ems  steamer  friends  who 
were  on  board.  Mail  was  received  at  Assiut,  or 
Assiout,  but  there  was  none  for  us,  and  we  were 
very  much  disappointed.  Alice  had  a  letter  from 
Louis  Mansour,  our  dragoman,  giving  us  his 
terms  for  the  Palestine  trip,  and  as  they  are  lower 


(  H9  ) 

than  David  Jarnal's,  we  will  probably  employ 
him.  He  has  the  best  recommendations  from 
Baedeker  and  people  who  have  traveled  under 
his  care,  and  we  like  him  very  much  as  a  guide. 

Since  leaving  Assiout  yesterday  at  noon  we 
have  made  good  time,  and  have  led  a  very  lazy  life, 
which  suits  us  perfectly.  The  weather  grows 
milder  day  by  day,  and  the  vegetation  seems  to 
be  more  verdant  and  beautiful  the  further  we  go. 
Native  villages  are  frequent ;  the  palms  are  beau- 
tiful, the  natives  are  as  picturesque  as  ever,  and 
wear  even  fewer  garments,  and  the  river  is  more 
and  more  enjoyable.  Along  the  Nile  they  raise 
many  pigeons  for  their  manure,  to  put  on  the 
land,  and  many  of  the  towns  have  more  homes 
for  the  pigeons  than  for  the  people.  For  fuel 
they  use  the  manure  of  the  animals,  dried. 

We  had  service  this  morning,  and  the  minis- 
ter read  suitable  chapters  about  Moses  and  the 
Egyptians,  which  seemed  very  appropriate  to  the 
occasion.  The  people  on  the  boat  are  mostly 
English  and  very  pleasant,  and  we  are  very 
chummy  with  many  of  them,  without  knowing 
their  names.  There  cannot  be  much  formality 
on  a  donkey  ride  where  everybody  looks  just  as 
ridiculous  as  his  neighbor.  The  ice  melts  very 
soon  when  one  has  to  smile  alike  at  everybody's 
appearance.  Just  now  beautiful  fields  of  wheat, 
with  a  background  of  olive  trees,  are  on  the  west, 
while  gray  sand-hills  are  to  be  seen  on  the  oppo- 
site shore  with  a  foreground  this  time  of  palm 
trees. 


(  15°) 

Well,  I  must  end  my  letter  now.  We  will 
soon  reach  Dendera,  but  will  not  explore  its  sights 
till  morning.  I  hear  that  breakfast  is  to  be  at 
seven,  as  we  will  need  a  good  many  hours  to  see 
all  that  is  to  be  seen.  Alice  takes  very  kindly  to 
donkey  riding,  and  seems  to  enjoy  it  as  much  as 
any  one  here.  We  will  be  very  busy  now  for 
several  days,  as  we  expect  to  reach  Luxor  to- 
morrow night  and  stay  two  days,  looking  at  the 
/  temples,  etc.  Love  to  Will  and  yourself  and  all 
friends.  We  can  get  no  letters  for  another  week. 
We  are  almost  out  of  the  world,  you  see. 
Your  loving  wife, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

R AMESES  THE  GREAT,  February  8,  1893. 
MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

I  wrote  you  last  on  Sunday.  That  night  we 
had  a  beautiful  sunset,  in  fact  we  have  one  every 
evening;  each  one  is  different,  and  all  of  them 
remind  me  of  our  painting  of  Jerusalem. 

Monday  early  we  reached  Dendera.  At  8.30 
we  mounted  our  donkeys  for  the  two  miles'  ride 
over  to  the  temple.  The  temple  of  Dendera 
dates  back  to  about  the  time  of  the  Christian  era, 
and  Christ  was  living  in  Jerusalem  when  it  was 
being  built.  The  temple  was  dedicated  to  the 
worship  of  the  goddess  Hathor,  daughter  of  Osiris 
and  I  sis,  and  she  was  the  goddess  of  nature.  It 
was  nearly  buried  under  the  accumulated  rubbish 
of  centuries  until  Mariette  undertook  its  exca- 
vation. There  is  a  great  deal  of  excavation  to  be 


done  yet,  but  it  is  a  wonderful  structure  as  it 
rests  now.  It  was  built  of  stone,  was  of  immense 
size,  and  had  innumerable  rooms.  Each  room 
had  its  name  and  use,  and  the  hieroglyphics, 
which  cover  the  walls,  tell  all  about  it.  The 
twenty-four  great  columns  in  the  portico  are 
larger  than  those  in  the  Parthenon,  and  are  very 
imposing.  The  outside  of  the  temple  is  also 
covered  with  carved  figures  representing  gods  and 
goddesses,  kings  and  queens,  and  hieroglyphic 
signs,  which  tell  the  story  of  each  one  and  the 
great  things  they  did.  The  Egyptians  were  cer- 
tainly a  wonderful  people  in  those  days  and 
showed  all  honor  to  the  gods  they  worshiped. 

Part  of  our  way  was  through  fields  of  wheat  and 
peas.  The  peas  are  in  blossom  and  look  very 
pretty.  Some  of  the  children  we  saw  wore  no 
clothing  at  all,  and  some  had  a  wreath  of  twisted 
grass  about  the  waist  and  another  on  the  head. 
One  does  not  mind  seeing  these  people  with  little 
or  no  clothing,  for  their  skins  are  very  dark,  and 
they  seem  to  be  more  like  animals  than  human 
creatures. 

We  left  Dendera  at  noon  and  reached  Luxor 
at  six  o'clock  on  Monday.  Yesterday  we  visited 
the  tombs  of  the  kings  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river.  As  it  was  considered  a  very  hard  trip 
neither  Alice  nor  Kate  went,  and  I  rather  thought 
of  staying  on  the  boat  too,  but  at  the  last  mo- 
ment made  up  my  mind  to  take  in  everything. 
We  left  at  8.30  in  boats  for  the  west  shore  and 
were  carried  to  the  bank  by  strong  men,  there 


being  no  other  way  to  land.  Two  men  came  for 
me ;  they  made  a  chair  of  their  hands  and  I  put 
my  arms  around  their  necks,  and  presto,  change  ! 
I  was  on  dry  land  with  no  trouble  at  all  to  my- 
self. Some  of  the  ladies  were  carried  by  one  man, 
but  no  one  offered  to  take  me  that  way.  The 
donkeys  were  waiting,  and  with  the  usual  scramble 
and  noise  we  mounted,  only  to  go  as  far  as  an- 
other arm  of  the  Nile,  where  we  had  to  go  in 
boats  again.  The  donkeys  were  also  transported 
in  boats,  and  each  boy  claimed  his  own  rider.  Now 
we  had  a  long  ride  of  nearly  an  hour,  winding  in 
among  great  red  limestone  cliffs,  whose  craggy 
heights  showed  finely  against  the  beautiful  dark 
blue  of  the  sky.  The  whole  range  of  cliffs  is  full 
of  tombs  of  the  great  men  of  Egypt.  We  first 
visited  the  tomb  of  Rameses  IV.,  showing  our 
monument  tickets  at  the  gate.  We  entered  the 
hillside  by  a  long  gallery,  gradually  descending 
until  we  reached  the  room  where  the  great  granite 
sarcophagus  still  remains,  but  the  stone  slab  (more 
like  a  great  boulder)  is  broken.  The  walls  are 
covered  with  figures  and  cartouches  telling  his  his- 
tory, and  are  repeated  over  and  over  again.  After 
seeing  one  of  these  tombs  one  has  practically  seen 
all  of  them  unless  a  person  is  able  to  read  the  hie- 
roglyphics without  an  interpreter.  To  an  Egyp- 
tologist they  would  all  have  great  interest.  Some 
of  the  tombs  are  comparatively  easy  of  access,  and 
others  are  difficult  because  of  the  steep  grade  in 
going  down  into  them  and  the  hard  climb  in  com, 
ing  out.  We  saw  several  tombs  of  the  different 


(  '53  ) 

Rameses,  and  one  of  Seti  First,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  the  entrance  of  another  one  where  our 
lunch  was  ready.  A  very  nice  lunch  it  was,  too. 
Cook  has  capital  arrangements  for  the  comfort  of 
his  passengers,  and  I  would  always  prefer  coming 
up  the  Nile  in  this  way  rather  than  have  a  daha- 
beah.  After  lunch  those  who  wished  to  get  a  fine 
view  of  old  Thebes  from  the  top  of  the  mountain 
climbed  up,  the  donkeys  following,  and  those  who 
did  not  care  to  make  so  much  exertion  went  back 
the  same  way  in  which  they  had  come.  Of  course 
I  was  one  to  climb  the  hill,  and  when  I  got  to  the 
top  the  view  of  the  valley  of  the  Nile  and  the 
ruined  temples  of  ancient  Thebes  repaid  me  for 
the  hard  work  and  heat.  You  must  know  that 
we  are  actually  having  summer  weather  now.  It 
was  a  very  warm  excursion  yesterday,  but  I  en- 
joyed it  ever  so  much.  I  had  a  fine  donkey  and 
cantered  almost  all  of  the  way  back  to  the  land- 
ing. We  were  away  nearly  eight  hours  from  the 
boat,  and  about  all  the  rest  we  had  was  while 
sitting  on  a  rock  at  the  entrance  of  the  tomb 
eating  luncheon,  but  I  was  not  even  very  tired, 
and  have  been  off  again  to-day  seeing  the  ruins 
at  Karnak. 

The  Karnak  ruins  cover  about  1000  acres,  al- 
though not  half  that  space  is  worthy  of  a  visit. 
They  are  the  grandest  relics  of  Egypt's  ancient 
splendor  that  I  have  yet  seen,  and  a  great  deal  of 
the  coloring  is  still  perfect,  although  exposed  to 
the  weather.  In  one  temple  there  are  134  mas- 
sive columns  standing,  which  are  magnificent. 


(  154) 

Mohammed,  our  dragoman,  took  six  men  as  large 
as  he  is  himself,  and  the  seven  men  could  just 
stretch  around  one  of  the  great  pillars.  We  have 
had  only  a  faint  idea  of  this  wonderful  place  as  yet, 
but  mean  to  go  there  again  on  our  way  back. 
We  are  to  see  the  temple  of  Luxor  this  after- 
noon, that  is,  Mohammed  is  going  into  it  with 
us  to  explain  it  all.  We  have  seen  them  ever  since 
our  arrival,  as  they  are  not  a  stone's  throw  from 
the  steamer.  I  saw  the  columns  shining  out  in 
the  moonlight  on  Monday  night  and  it  was  a  fine 
sight. 

Monday  evening  a  note  was  handed  to  me  and 
who  do  you  suppose  has  turned  up  in  Egypt  ? 
Mrs.  Thayer.  She  is  on  the  river  now  but  on 
her  way  to  Cairo,  and  expects  to  meet  us  there 
when  we  get  back. 

Last  night  the  Rameses  arrived  from  Assuan, 
and  on  board  were  the  Bells  and  our  fair  young 
lady  friends,  who  were  all  on  board  the  Ems.  We 
were  delighted  to  see  each  other  again  and  were 
soon  on  their  boat  greeting  them.  In  the  even- 
ing they  came  over  here  and  they  all  confessed 
that  our  boat  is  the  finest  and  has  the  nicest  offi- 
cers, and  also  a  more  genial,  friendly  set  of  peo- 
ple. They  left  at  noon.  To-morrow  we  are  going 
to  explore  Thebes  on  the  west  shore,  and  I  hope 
to  be  able  to  get  the  very  same  donkey  again. 
My  boy's  name  is  Gossom  and  the  donkey's  is 
Seti  First.  The  boys  are  all  Mohammeds  or  Has- 
sans, usually,  and  the  favorite  names  for  the 
donkeys  are  Telegraph,  Telephone,  and  Yankee 


Doodle  Dandy.  We  saw  some  of  the  natives  from 
near  Sudan,  and  they  really  are  nothing  but  sav- 
ages, who  wear  scanty  clothing  and  arrange  their 
long  hair  in  a  wondrous  manner.  They  came 
and  danced  for  us  this  morning  to  the  music  of 
a  sort  of  reed  flute.  The  dancing  was  merely 
springing  about  a  foot  from  the  ground  and  turn- 
ing with  each  spring.  The  only  beautiful  thing 
about  them  is  their  teeth,  which  are  as  white  as 
snow,  and  as  a  rule  very  even. 

If  you  only  knew  how  hard  it  is  to  write  let- 
ters !  I  feel  so  unable  to  tell  of  these  wonderful 
sights  that  it  discourages  me  from  even  attempt- 
ing it.  The  Bells  got  a  lot  of  letters  last  night 
which  left  New  York  on  the  i5th,  and  why  do  we 
not  receive  anything  ?  Now  I  must  stop.  If  you 
get  any  idea  from  this  dull  letter  of  what  we  are 
enjoying  I  will  be  very  glad.  Tell  Matie  Fox  that 
her  box  of  candy  was  not  opened  until  we  started 
up  the  Nile,  and  we  have  blessed  her  many 
times  for  giving  it  to  us.  Love  to  all,  as  usual. 
Your  loving  wife, 

LIZZIE  McMiLLAN. 

UPPER  EGYPT,  February  12,  1893. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

To-day  I  had  my  first  batch  of  home  letters, 
and  yours  of  January  9  was  one  of  the  five.  We 
would  have  received  them  about  a  week  sooner 
had  we  remained  in  Cairo.  My  last  letter  to  you 
was  written  on  the  2d,  during  the  time  when 
quite  a  number  of  our  company  were  on  land 


(  156  ) 

visiting  some  tombs  at  Beni  Hassan.  The  same 
afternoon  we  sailed  as  far  as  Roda,  where  a  large 
sugar  manufactory  was  the  attraction,  and,  an- 
choring in  the  middle  of  the  stream,  remained 
there  until  daylight  the  next  morning.  Friday 
afternoon  we  reached  Assiut,  one  of  the  largest 
and  most  important  towns  on  the  Nile.  They 
were  making  extensive  preparations  for  the  re- 
ception of  the  Khedive,  who  was  expected  next 
day,  so  the  town  was  gay  with  innumerable  red 
flags,  arches,  colored  lanterns  with  candles,  and 
colored  glasses  for  floating,  arranged  in  all  sorts 
of  odd  Egyptian  designs.  It  was  really  a  very 
pretty  sight,  and  our  people  were  anxious  to 
remain  over  a  day  to  see  the  illuminations  when 
his  Highness  should  appear.  The  manager  sent 
a  message  to  Cairo  to  that  effect,  but  permis- 
sion to  stop  was  not  granted ;  so  after  spend- 
ing Saturday  morning  in  riding  out  to  the  hills 
to  see  the  tombs  where  the  sacred  wolves  used 
to  be  buried,  and  in  visiting  the  bazaars  of  the 
town,  we  proceeded  on  our  way.  Sunday  we  had 
service  in  the  dining-room,  for  we  had  a  minister 
on  board.  Portions  of  Scripture  were  read  telling 
of  the  desolation  which  was  to  come  upon  Egypt, 
suitable  remarks  were  made,  and  the  service  was 
a  very  unusual  and  interesting  one.  As  the  days 
go  by  we  are  more  and  more  delighted  with  our 
trip,  with  its  new  and  varied  experiences.  We 
are  getting  very  fond  of  donkey  riding,  and  se- 
lect our  beasts  and  saddles  with  as  much  care  and 
interest  as  we  bestow  upon  the  famous  old  ruins. 


(  157  ) 

Not  that  we  can  always  choose  as  we  would,  for 
the  boys  pull  us  this  way  and  that,  and  push 
their  donkeys  forward  in  a  way  that  does  not  al- 
ways accord  with  our  ideas  of  politeness,  all  the 
time  dinning  into  our  ears  the  perfections  of  their 
own  animals  and  shouting  Arabic  invectives 
against  each  other. 

After  getting  accustomed  to  that  sort  of  thing 
one  rather  enjoys  it,  but  at  first  we  felt  a  trifle 
nervous,  not  knowing  what  might  happen  if  we 
resisted  their  importunities.  Now  we  make  our 
way  among  the  ludicrous  looking  rabble  with 
great  confidence,  pushing  both  donkeys  and 
boys  out  of  our  way  when  they  become  too  noisy 
and  troublesome. 

I  never  realized  how  much  the  river  Nile  is  to 
Egypt  until  now.  The  people  drink  its  water, 
they  bathe  in  it,  and  in  fact  it  is  food  and  drink 
too,  because  without  it  there  would  be  nothing 
to  eat.  The  women  come  down  at  eventide  to 
fill  their  jars  just  as  they  did  in  the  days  of  the 
Israelites,  and  probably  with  the  same  kind  of 
jars,  which  they  fill  and  then  carry  away  on  their 
heads  as  easily  as  if  they  were  mere  featherweights. 
The  shores  of  the  river  have  been  very  inter- 
esting all  the  way,  and  offer  more  variety  and 
beauty  to  the  eye  than  one  would  think  possible 
from  the  general  lowness  of  the  banks.  When 
we  are  not  off  on  some  excursion,  our  life  is  so 
idle  that  we  even  lack  ambition  enough  to  write 
letters.  It  is  an  odd  feeling  of  languor  with  which 


(  '58) 

one   becomes   possessed   whenever  there   is    no 
special  inducement  to  exert  oneself. 

Last  Monday  afternoon  we  arrived  at  Luxor, 
the  site  of  ancient  Thebes,  and  there  were  so 
many  ruins  to  see  that  we  remained  there  three 
days. 

The  first  day  we  started  at  8.30  in  small 
boats,  crossed  the  river  to  where  donkeys  were 
waiting,  and  rode  across  the  plain  to  an  arm  of 
the  Nile,  where  both  people  and  donkeys  were 
transported  in  boats.  Then  we  had  a  ride  of 
forty  minutes,  winding  in  and  out  among  bold, 
rugged,  red  limestone  cliffs,  which  were  outlined 
against  a  deep  blue  cloudless  sky,  until  finally 
we  reached  the  mountain  side,  where  many  kingly 
tombs  are  to  be  found.  Some  of  these  tombs 
date  back  as  far  as  1600  B.  c.  and  are  wonder- 
fully well  preserved.  A  long  descending  gallery, 
the  walls  covered  with  figures  and  hieroglyphics, 
leads  into  the  hillside,  and  at  the  end  of  this  pas- 
sage is  found  a  room  containing  a  huge.granite 
sarcophagus  where  some  mighty  king  of  Egypt 
once  reposed.  Each  tomb  tells  the  history  and 
great  works  of  the  king  who  was  buried  there, 
and  when  explained  by  our  dragoman,  Moham- 
med, proved  to  be  a  very  interesting  and  enter- 
taining story. 

It  was  rather  fatiguing  work  to  explore  these 
tombs,  so  after  seeing  five  of  them  and  walking 
miles,  we  paused  for  luncheon  at  the  entrance  to 
another  tomb,  where  we  found  cold  meats,  bread 


(  159) 

and  butter,  hard  boiled  eggs,  coffee,  and  fruit, 
more  satisfying  to  the  inner  man  than  cartouches 
and  hieroglyphics. 

After  lunch,  those  so  disposed  climbed  to  the 
top  of  the  mountain  for  a  view  of  the  valley  of 
the  Nile,  with  the  river  following  its  serpentine 
course  among  the  ancient  ruins  of  once  magnifi- 
cent temples.  It  was  a  beautiful  vista  which 
stretched  out  before  us,  and  amply  repaid  us  for 
the  fatigue  and  heat  we  had  endured  in  order  to 
get  it.  Thebes  lay  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  and 
must  have  been  a  marvel  of  beauty.  All  these 
great  temples  were  dedicated  to  the  worship  of 
Egyptian  gods,  and  no  expense  or  labor  was 
spared  to  do  them  honor. 

The  second  day  we  again  mounted  on  donkeys 
to  visit  the  ruins  of  Karnak,  on  the  east  side  of  the 
river  and  not  far  from  Luxor,  where  an  anchor- 
age was  made.  The  ruined  temples  of  Karnak 
cover  a  thousand  acres  of  land  and  are  the  finest 
in  Egypt,  but  baffle  description.  One  splendid 
granite  obelisk  stands  109  feet  high,  and  in  an- 
other place  there  are  134  immense  stone  columns 
which  measure  35  feet  in  circumference  and  are 
beautifully  proportioned. 

The  ruins  at  Luxor  are  also  very  fine,  and  are 
being  excavated  more  and  more  all  the  time, 
while  new  wonders  of  ancient  Thebes  are  con- 
tinually coming  to  light. 

We  left  Luxor  early  last  Friday  morning  and 
visited  two  ruins  during  that  day,  one  on  foot 


and  the  other  with  donkeys,  arriving  here  yester- 
day about  four  o'clock.  We  saw  the  sights  before 
night,  as  we  would  have  no  other  opportunity. 
Our  boat  goes  no  further  than  Assouan,  as  the 
river  is  too  narrow,  too  shallow,  and  too  rocky 
for  a  steamer  to  venture  beyond  this  point.  To- 
morrow we  go  six  miles  further  to  reach  the  first 
cataract  and  Philae,  and  for  the  journey  employ 
donkey,  camel,  or  train  as  we  wish,  and  return 
here  to-morrow  night  to  be  ready  to  start  on  our 
return  trip  to  Cairo  next  Tuesday. 

I  feel  almost  sorry  to  be  near  the  end  of  this 
ideal  mode  of  travel,  but  all  good  things  must 
come  to  an  end,  and  so  must  this.  However,  the 
memory  of  these  pleasant  days  will  always  remain 
with  me,  and  besides  I  will  have  my  journal,  my 
photographs,  and  my  pressed  flowers  to  assist  me 
in  going  up  the  Nile  many  years  to  come.  Now 
that  my  first  letters  have  arrived  I  am  greedy 
for  more,  and  shall  watch  the  delivery  of  the 
mail  at  Luxor  on  Tuesday  evening  with  special 
interest. 

So  my  plans  for  a  winter  in  Egypt  rather  sur- 
prised my  friends  in  Aylmer.  Well,  I  ought  to 
be  satisfied,  for  that  was  what  I  tried  to  do, 
and  success  is  very  gratifying.  Loving  mes- 
sages to  one  and  all,  and  the  greatest  share  for 
your  dear  self. 

Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE  McMlLLAN. 


RAMESES  THE  GREAT,  NILE, 
February  14,  1893. 

MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

When  Alice  came  to  my  room  on  Sunday 
morning  and  asked  me  what  I  would  rather  have 
than  anything  else  in  the  world,  I  answered  with- 
out a  moment's  hesitation,  "  Letters,"  and  she 
handed  me  five.  No  wonder  I  was  anxious  to 
hear  from  you,  when  not  a  word  nor  a  sign  had 
been  received  from  you  since  our  parting  in  New 
York  !  Yours  and  Will's  of  the  i  ith  reached  me 
on  the  1 2th  of  the  following  month,  but  we  would 
have  had  our  mail  earlier  had  we  remained  in 
Cairo. 

Since  writing  Will  on  the  nth  we  have  had  a 
charming  time.  We  reached  Assuan  on  Satur- 
day afternoon  at  four  o'clock.  We  found  it  a 
very  pretty  little  place,  picturesquely  situated, 
just  opposite  the  famous  Isle  of  Elephantine. 
The  coast  about  here  (and  the  river,  too)  is  very 
rocky  and  barren,  nothing  but  rocks  and  desert, 
and  this  is  where  that  noted  granite  quarry  is 
which  provided  so  much  and  such  beautiful  gran- 
ite for  temples  and  obelisks.  Whenever  you  ask, 
"  Where  did  they  get  this  granite  ?  "  the  answer 
always  is,  "  From  the  granite  quarries  of  Assuan." 
I  have  secured  a  sample  of  it,  for  a  paper  weight 
for  you.  Many  of  our  people  went  over  to  visit 
the  island  as  soon  as  we  had  arrived  here,  but  we 
made  a  visit  to  the  bazaars,  which  are  quite  curi- 
ous, and  I  bought  a  riding  whip  for  Will  and  a 
double  war-knife  such  as  they  use  in  the  Sudan. 


(    162    ) 

Sunday  we  spent  rather  quietly.  Had  services 
in  the  morning,  and  in  the  afternoon  a  small  party 
of  us  went  on  donkeys  to  see  the  quarries.  It 
really  was  a  wonderful  sight,  for  the  granite  seems 
to  be  inexhaustible.  There  is  an  unfinished  obe- 
lisk lying  on  the  ground,  both  top  and  bottom 
imbedded  in  sand,  and  yet  what  one  can  see  is 
over  seventy  feet  long  and  finely  proportioned. 
After  we  came  back  from  the  quarries  we  got 
Joseph,  our  Syrian  dragoman,  to  arrange  for  a  sail- 
boat, and  we  went  around  the  island.  Mrs.  and 
Miss  Cochrane  from  New  York  were  invited  to 
go  with  us,  and  it  was  a  perfectly  delightful  trip. 
The  natives  chant  as  they  work,  for  they  do  not 
seem  to  be  able  to  do  anything  without  making 
a  noise  of  some  kind,  and  after  we  had  rounded 
the  lower  part  of  the  island  the  sail  was  let  out 
and  we  scudded  before  the  wind  in  fine  style. 
When  the  sail  needed  reefing  two  men  in  gowns 
climbed  the  mast  like  squirrels,  and  while  the 
boat  turned  about  and  these  sailors  were  swing- 
ing out  over  the  water  they  tied  the  sail  down  as 
neatly  as  possible  and  ran  down  to  the  deck  as 
unconcernedly  as  if  they  had  done  nothing  to 
astonish  any  one.  Their  toes  are  as  supple  as 
fingers,  and  they  seem  like  a  second  pair  of  hands 
to  the  people  who  have  never  known  what  it  is 
to  wear  a  shoe. 

Monday  morning  some  of  our  party  rode  don- 
keys, and  a  young  Scotchman  by  the  name  of 
Gardner  rode  a  camel  over  the  six  miles  to  Philae, 
which  is  a  mile  above  the  "  First  Cataract."  We 


went  by  a  train  which  reminded  us  very  forcibly 
of  Sicily  in  its  make-up  and  speed,  or  lack  of  it. 
It  took  the  train  half  an  hour  to  reach  the  land- 
ing, where  we  had  to  take  boats  to  go  over  to  the 
beautiful  island  of  Philae.  The  scenery  all  about 
there  is  wonderfully  picturesque  and  very  rocky. 
The  rocks  are  piled  upon  each  other  as  if  by  hu- 
man design,  and  are  of  granite,  basalt,  and  other 
varieties.  The  ruins  are  very  fine,  indeed,  and 
occupy  a  great  part  of  the  island,  which  is  as  small 
or  smaller  than  Elephantine.  On  one  wall  is 
a  copy  of  the  Rosetta  stone,  on  another  great 
tablet  is  recorded  the  deed  of  gift,  bestowed  upon 
Isis.  by  Ptolemy,  of  this  temple,  and  the  columns 
and  capitals  are  beautiful.  We  lunched  in  one 
of  the  temples  and  desecrated  it  by  the  clatter 
of  dishes  and  merry  chat  and  laughter,  but  those 
once  priestly  chambers  must  long  ago  have  become 
accustomed  to  the  presence  of  these  sights  and 
sounds.  After  lunch  we  got  into  the  boats  and 
rowed  down  to  the  First  Cataract,  where  we  landed 
and  climbed  up  the  sand-hill  of  the  Arabian  De- 
sert to  look  down  upon  the  rapids,  and  the  Nu- 
bians sitting  on  logs  with  only  a  cloth  about  the 
loins,  who  were  shooting  them.  It  was  wonder- 
ful how  those  black  fellows  guided  their  logs,  sit- 
ting upright  with  feet  straight  out  before  them 
and  paddling  with  their  hands.  After  reaching 
a  certain  point  they  all  made  for  the  rocks  and 
came  up,  breathless  and  dripping,  to  demand  back- 
sheesh,  as  if  we  had  asked  them  to  risk  their  lives; 
and  yet  we  gave  them  money  and  they  were 
never  satisfied. 


We  came  back  to  Assuan  by  boat,  shooting 
the  small  rapids  ourselves,  and  it  was  exciting 
I  can  tell  you.  The  current  was  swift  and  the 
river  full  of  eddies,  which  twisted  our  boat  about 
like  a  cork,  but  the  man  at  the  rudder  knew 
his  business,  while  the  eight  oarsmen  did  their 
work  well,  and  when  we  were  through  the  danger- 
ous part  they  gave  a  hip-hip-hurrah  as  heartily  as 
American  seamen  could  have  done  it.  We  joined 
in  it  too.  While  we  were  shooting  the  rapids  I 
dipped  in  a  glass  and  filled  it  and  then  poured 
some  of  it  into  a  small  bottle  I  had  carried  with 
me  for  the  purpose. 

Some  of  our  people  left  us  yesterday  to  go 
on  to  the  Second  Cataract,  and  they  will  see  the 
most  wonderful  temple  of  all,  hewn  out  of  the 
solid  rock.  They  say  it  is  rather  dangerous  to 
go  up  there  just  now,  as  the  dervishes  are  very 
troublesome,  and  visitors  have  to  be  protected 
by  a  company  of  English  soldiers.  Any  way,  we 
have  not  the  time  to  spare  for  that  trip,  as  it  takes 
eight  days  longer.  The  river  all  the  way  back  to 
Assuan  was  quite  narrow  and  very  rocky.  The 
whole  country  looked  barren  and  lonely,  and  we 
think  we  like  better  the  vegetation  which  is  be- 
coming more  and  more  beautiful  as  the  days  go 
by,  and  as  we  are  going  towards  Cairo. 

It  is  now  about  three  P.  M.,  and  we  expect  to 
be  back  at  Luxor  at  six  o'clock,  perhaps  sooner. 
The  weather  is  not  hot,  but  clear  and  beautiful. 
The  mornings  and  evenings  are  very  cool,  so  that 
we  still  wear  all  our  winter  clothing  and  find  it 


(  165  ) 

very  comfortable.  We  will  reach  Cairo  Sunday, 
probably,  as  we  go  down  much  quicker  than  we 
went  up  because  of  being  with  the  current  now  and 
not  having  much  sight-seeing  to  do.  After  we 
leave  Luxor  to-morrow  at  noon  we  will  make 
only  one  stop,  at  Abydos.  The  ride  on  donkeys 
will  take  two  hours  each  way  and  will  try  our 
mettle  somewhat,  I  suspect.  Our  company  are  all 
exceedingly  pleasant  people,  and  we  have  very 
good  times  together.  Some  of  them  we  will  be 
sorry  to  lose,  and  some  of  them  we  hope  to  meet 
again  in  America.  I  was  taken  for  an  English- 
woman by  an  American  ;  was  it  a  compliment  or 
not  ?  Several  Scotch  families  we  like  very  much 
indeed.  We  have  no  pushing  or  crowding  any- 
where excepting  that  which  is  caused  by  our 
donkeys  and  donkey  boys.  I  dare  say  many  wise 
things  will  occur  to  me  to  say  as  soon  as  my  letter 
is  sealed,  but  nothing  seems  to  be  in  my  mind 
now ;  so  with  much  love  to  you  and  all  the  fam- 
ily, wherever  and  whoever  you  are,  and  hoping 
to  get  more  letters  on  our  arrival  at  Luxor, 
Your  loving  wife, 

LIZZIE  McMiLLAN. 
You  may  consider  this  a  valentine  if  you  like. 

RAMESES  THE  GREAT, 

February  17,  1893. 

MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

Continued  from  my  last  of  Tuesday,  i4th.  We 
had  a  delightful  sail  all  that  day,  as  the  weather 
was  perfect,  and  reached  Luxor  about  five  o'clock 


(  166  ) 

in  the  afternoon.  Alice  and  I  went  up  town  to 
buy  some  photographs,  and  became  so  much  in- 
terested in  our  work  that  when  we  started  for  the 
boat  it  was  quite  dark.  However,  a  native  had 
been  on  the  watch  for  us  and  accompanied  us 
home  with  a  lantern  and  never  so  much  as  said, 
"  By  your  permission."  He  expected  backsheesh, 
too,  and  of  course  got  it,  for  the  roads  are  not  as- 
phalt, and  we  were  glad  to  have  our  way  illumi- 
nated. Our  boat  and  another  of  Cook's  looked 
very  attractive  from  the  shore,  and  I  don't  won- 
der that  the  company  consider  it  safer  at  certain 
points  to  anchor  in  the  middle  of  the  stream. 
When  I  got  to  my  room  I  found  such  a  package 
of  letters,  including  yours  and  Will's  of  the  i6th 
and  i  yth !  We  had  a  perfect  feast  in  reading  them, 
but  were  so  sorry  to  hear  you  had  taken  cold  on 
the  way  home.  I  was  afraid  you  might  have  some 
trouble,  after  hearing  of  the  very  severe  weather 
America  had  after  we  left. 

Wednesday  morning  some  of  the  people  went 
to  see  the  ruins  of  Karnak  again.  We  did  not 
care  to  go  there  as  it  is  a  very  dusty  road,  but 
Kate  and  I  went  for  a  donkey  ride,  with  Joseph 
to  see  that  we  came  to  no  harm.  We  enjoyed  it 
ever  so  much.  At  noon  we  left  Luxor,  and  about 
four  o'clock  arrived  at  Keneh,  where  they  said 
we  would  see  a  fine  pottery  manufactory.  The 
establishment  turned  out  to  be  a  courtyard  in  the 
town,  with  one  man  moulding  common  clay  into 
water  bottles  and  jars.  After  turning  out  half 
a  dozen  the  hat  was  passed  around  for  backsheesh. 


(  167  ) 

If  there  is  one  thing  in  this  country  which  they 
know  how  to  do  thoroughly  it  is  to  pass  the  hat, 
whether  in  a  small  boat  or  on  shore,  it  does  n't 
matter.  They  are  satisfied  with  such  small  sums, 
though,  that  we  are  quite  willing  to  gratify  the 
poor  creatures. 

Before  leaving  Cairo  we  changed  some  gold 
into  the  coin  of  the  country,  piastres  and  half 
piastres,  —  in  other  words,  five  and  two  and  a 
half  cent  pieces,  and  have  been  prepared  for  all 
demands  for  money. 

To  return  to  Keneh.  After  examining  the  pot- 
tery works  we  rode  through  the  bazaars,  but  the 
streets  were  very  narrow  and  dirty,  and  the  wares 
were  not  at  all  tempting,  although  rather  curious. 
The  best  part  of  that  trip  was  the  donkey  ride, 
and  that  was  fine.  That  night  we  sailed  until 
dark  and  then  anchored  in  the  middle  of  the  river 
opposite  a  small  town,  and  early  yesterday  morn- 
ing were  on  our  way  again  to  reach  Abydos  in  time 
to  make  that  excursion  comfortably  during  the 
day.  At  10.30  we  were  off  for  a  ride  of  an  hour 
and  three  quarters  to  see  the  fine  old  temple  of 
Abydos.  A  camel  was  laden  with  two  enormous 
hampers  containing  our  lunch,  half  a  dozen  wait- 
ers accompanied  the  procession,  and  there  were 
nearly  sixty  pilgrims  in  hideous  disguises  who 
filed  away  from  the  ship.  I  do  wish  you  could 
see  one  of  these  straggling  processions.  I  thought 
when  we  first  started  on  this  trip  that  never  was 
anything  so  grotesque,  and  yet  habit  is  such  a  queer 
thing  that  I  am  not  sure  but  that  a  well-ordered 


equipment  —  riding  habit,  hat,  and  fine  horse  — 
would  now  look  strange  and  incongruous  to  me.  I 
had  a  large  donkey,  the  largest  I  have  ever  had, 
and  felt  very  fine  indeed.  Everything  went  well 
until  we  had  nearly  reached  our  destination,  when, 
without  the  least  bit  of  warning,  the  beast  went 
down  on  his  nose  and  I  went  over  his  head.  My 
head  struck  the  ground,  but  on  being  picked  up 
and  dusted  I  found  there  was  no  harm  done.  I 
got  on  again  and  proceeded  to  the  temple,  but 
had  a  different  donkey  coming  home.  This  time 
I  chose  a  small  one  so  that  if  he  fell  I  would  not 
have  so  far  to  go  before  reaching  the  ground. 
The  temple  of  Abydos  is  not  so  fine  in  its 
general  construction  as  some  we  have  seen,  and 
the  pillars,  although  quite  numerous,  are  not 
nearly  so  large  as  many  others,  both  at  Luxor 
and  Karnak,  but  the  carvings  on  the  walls  are  the 
finest  of  all.  The  work  is  beautifully  done,  and 
much  of  it  is  in  a  fine  state  of  preservation.  Of 
course  the  temple  was  dedicated  to  the  gods,  and 
I  sis  and  Osiris  were  prominent  in  all  the  carv- 
ings. The  coloring  on  some  of  the  designs  was 
very  bright,  and  this  temple  must  have  been  a 
magnificent  edifice  several  thousand  years  ago. 
The  plain  through  which  we  rode  was  fertile 
and  almost  covered  with  beautiful  green  fields  of 
wheat,  and  they  grow  a  good  many  mandarin 
trees  here.  The  weather  is  growing  cooler  as  we 
approach  Cairo.  The  mornings  and  evenings  are 
actually  cold,  but  it  is  warm  and  delightful  in 
the  middle  of  the  day. 


(  169  ) 

We  have  some  new  people  who  came  on  board 
at  Luxor.  One  distinguished-looking  man  sits 
next  to  Kate  and  opposite  me  at  table.  We 
were  curious  to  know  something  about  him  be- 
cause he  speaks  English,  Italian,  and  French 
equally  well.  It  turns  out  that  he  is  a  count, 
lives  in  Rome,  and  had  an  English  grandmother. 
You  see  we  are  a  very  distinguished  party,  having 
a  prince,  a  count,  a  countess,  and  quite  a  num- 
ber of  good  American  citizens  on  our  boat.  A 
gentleman  who  sits  next  me,  and  who  came  on  at 
Luxor,  said  he  hoped  I  would  tell  him  if  I  were 
a  countess,  and  I  said  I  could  tell  him  in  one 
little  word  of  two  letters,  but  that  I  was  proud  of 
being  a  plain  American  citizen.  He  is  English. 

This  P.  M.  we  will  arrive  at  Assiout,  and  while 
some  will  be  tempted  to  explore  the  town  and 
bazaars,  I  have  it  on  my  mind  to  remain  quietly 
on  the  boat. 

Among  the  very  nicest  of  our  ship's  company 
is  a  Mr.  Manger,  a  widower  and  a  very  cultivated 
man,  who  has  made  himself  so  pleasant  to  every- 
body that  there  was  general  grief  when  he  fell, 
about  ten  days  ago,  and  slightly  sprained  an 
ankle.  Before  that  was  well  enough  for  him  to 
resume  his  sight-seeing,  excepting  by  going  in  a 
chair  carried  with  poles  by  men,  he  fell  again  and 
had  some  trouble  with  his  head.  He  has  been  in 
bed  for  some  days,  but  is  about  now,  and  is  quite 
the  belle  of  the  boat.  This  morning  several  of  us 
were  sitting  near  him,  when  he  began  to  tell  about 
his  trip  to  Jerusalem,  which  was  so  interesting 


that  it  has  greatly  increased  our  desire  to  go  there. 
He  heard  of  my  tumble  yesterday,  and  was  quite 
exercised  about  it,  and  being  somewhat  of  a  doc- 
tor, was  making  earnest  inquiries  as  to  my  condi- 
tion this  morning.  I  assured  him  that  no  bones 
were  broken,  not  even  my  head.  I  begin  to  think 
this  cranium  of  mine  must  be  as  hard  as  that  of 
the  native  African. 

Cook's  have  their  own  saddles  at  all  these 
temple  towns,  and  they  also  carry  with  them 
about  six  chairs,  so  that  people  who  cannot  ride 
the  donkeys  may  be  carried.  For  the  first  time, 
Alice  took  a  chair  yesterday,  and  went  to  see  the 
temple,  like  a  queen,  carried  on  men's  shoulders. 
She  enjoyed  it  ever  so  much,  and  amused  herself 
during  the  journey  by  teaching  her  bearers  Eng- 
lish. She  said  they  were  very  quick  to  learn,  and 
seemed  as  pleased  as  children  with  a  new  toy.  It 
is  very  amusing  to  see  the  ridiculous  toys,  etc., 
which  the  children  along  the  route  to  the  temples 
try  to  sell  us.  Home-made  jumping-jacks,  tops, 
slings,  and  rag  dolls.  There  are  always  one  or 
two  little  tots  about  three  years  old,  totally  naked, 
who  are  black  and  plump  and  cute,  and  are 
pushed  forward  to  beg  for  backsheesh.  Yesterday 
one  little  fellow  got  hold  of  the  sleeve  of  our 
Scotch  minister,  Mr.  Gillan,  and  came  over  the 
gang-plank  with  him.  The  funniest  thing  about 
it  was  that  Mr.  Gillan  did  not  know  the  imp  was 
there,  and  everybody  was  so  much  amused.  I 
wish  I  could  have  you  see  these  things  as  they 
appear  to  us,  but  no  tongue  could  tell  you,  and 


no  picture  portray  to  you,  this  strange,  desolate, 
fertile,  beautiful,  and  most  interesting  country. 

Alice  and  Kate  send  much  love,  and  are  going 
to  write  you  such  long  and  interesting  letters 
that  you  will  forget  how  long  it  is  since  you 
have  heard  from  them.  I  hope  you  are  well  and 
having  a  lovely  time.  Much  love  to  all  the  fam- 
ily, whoever  are  with  you  and  wherever  you  are. 
Lovingly  your  wife, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

We  expect  to  reach  Cairo  on  Sunday  afternoon, 
and  will  probably  remain  on  the  boat  until  Mon- 
day morning,  as  we  are  entitled  to  our  accommo- 
dations here  until  that  time.  I  am  actually  sorry 
that  the  Nile  trip  is  so  nearly  over,  and  find  it  is 
the  general  feeling  among  the  passengers. 

NEW  HOTEL,   CAIRO, 

February  21,  1893. 
MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

We  arrived  here  on  Sunday  afternoon,  and  yes- 
terday morning  we  received  a  nice  batch  of  letters 
from  home,  yours  of  the  24th,  and  Will's  and 
yours  of  the  26th.  I  was  so  sorry  to  hear  that 
neither  you  nor  Will  is  well,  and  think  perhaps 
it  would  have  been  better  if  I  had  remained  at 
home,  and  then  you  would  not  have  had  that 
long  journey  from  New  York,  in  such  freezing 
weather.  I  am  thinking  of  you  now  as  breathing 
the  soft  air  of  New  Mexico,  and  gaining  health 
and  strength  every  day  and  hour.  Still  better 
would  it  have  been  to  have  had  you  both  here  in 


Egypt  with  us,  although  I  dare  say  the  three 
ladies  in  your  party  are  as  good  nurses  as  we 
three  are.  I  think  your  party  very  complete,  and 
I  hope  and  believe  that  you  are  all  having  the 
best  kind  of  a  time. 

I  wrote  you  last  on  the  i  yth,  just  before  we 
arrived  at  Assiout  on  our  return  journey.  We 
got  in  about  three  o'clock,  and  most  of  the  party 
immediately  secured  donkeys  and  went  off  to  ex- 
plore the  town.  We  did  not  care  to  do  that 
again,  so  we  waited  until  about  five,  and  then 
got  Joseph  the  Second,  dragoman,  to  get  don- 
keys for  us  and  go  with  us,  and  we  took  a  ride 
through  the  town  and  bazaars  and  almost  out  as 
far  as  the  tombs  of  the  sacred  wolves.  It  was  a 
delightful  time  to  be  out,  when  the  sun  was  just 
sinking  behind  the  hills,  and  giving  a  most  mag- 
nificent coloring  to  the  western  sky  and  the  east- 
ern sand-hills,  and  do  you  wonder  that  we  enjoyed 
it  ?  I  had  a  fine  donkey,  and  quite  reestablished 
my  reputation  as  a  rider.  I  did  not  want  to  have 
my  last  donkey  ride  an  unpleasant  remembrance, 
and  this  one  quite  banished  the  memory  of  my 
tumble.  Our  friends  seemed  to  think  I  was 
rather  brave  to  venture  again,  but  it  did  not  strike 
me  in  that  way  at  all. 

Our  boat  remained  at  Assiout  all  night,  and 
before  evening  another  of  Cook's  boats  came  in 
from  Cairo.  We  were  in  the  saloon  playing  be- 
zique  in  the  evening  when  the  door  opened  and 
a  lady  came  towards  us  smiling  broadly.  We  all 
looked  at  her  a  moment,  and  then  Kate  and  Alice 


(  "73  ) 

exclaimed  :  "  Sarah  Dart !  where  in  the  world  did 
you  drop  from  ? "  and  here  was  an  old  Buffalo 
friend  of  theirs.  Perhaps  you  may  remember 
meeting  her  at  the  Masconomo  House  the  last 
time  we  were  there.  We  had  a  very  pleasant  little 
visit  together,  and  next  morning  at  daybreak  we 
were  on  our  way  again.  We  only  made  one  stop 
on  Saturday  and  that  was  where  we  spent  the 
night.  There  was  a  sugar  manufactory  to  see,  but 
we  did  not  go.  Sunday  was  a  beautiful  day  and 
we  could  not  bear  to  leave  the  deck  a  moment 
for  fear  of  losing  some  of  the  fascinating  scenes, 
and  actually  grudging  the  time  we  had  to  spend 
at  meals.  Everybody  mourned  to  think  the  jour- 
ney was  so  nearly  over  and  wanted  to  enjoy  it  all 
as  long  as  possible.  Early  in  the  afternoon  the 
pyramids  of  Sakkarah  appeared,  and  then  signs 
of  the  city.  Citadel  Hill,  with  the  beautiful  ala- 
baster mosque,  loomed  up,  and  its  tall,  slender 
minarets  were  outlined  against  the  blue  sky.  The 
gong  sounded,  and  all  the  company  assembled  for 
afternoon  tea  and  cakes  before  we  would  separate, 
perhaps  forever.  Then  the  boat  whistled,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  we  were  at  our  dock,  and  the 
familiar  face  of  Louis  was  seen  on  the  bank,  look- 
ing for  us.  We  knew  that  Cairo  was  very  full,  and 
thought  we  might  all  be  obliged  to  remain  on  the 
boat  until  Monday  morning,  but  the  agent  of  the 
"  New  "  was  there  and  told  us  we  could  get  rooms, 
so  Louis  came  down  and  got  our  small  traps, 
and  in  a  few  minutes  we  were  whirling  along  the 
streets  of  Cairo,  which  seemed  quite  familiar  to  us. 


(  174) 

About  half  of  our  people  remained  on  the  boat, 
some  for  their  own  convenience  and  others  be- 
cause they  could  not  get  rooms.  We  know  so 
many  people  now  that  we  could  visit  all  day  long 
if  we  wished.  Quite  a  number  of  the  Ems  people 
are  still  here,  and  then  the  passengers  of  Ra- 
meses  the  Great  keep  running  against  us  at  every 
turn.  Yesterday  morning  we  had  an  appointment 
with  Louis  to  make  our  final  arrangements  for 
the  Palestine  trip.  We  decided  to  go  with  him 
instead  of  David,  and  so  he  brought  over  his  va- 
rious contracts,  and  after  selecting  the  one  which 
suited  our  own  conditions,  Alice  and  I  made  two 
copies  of  it,  and  then  we  went  to  the  American 
consul  to  have  them  signed  and  sealed.  One 
copy  was  given  to  Louis  and  I  have  the  other. 
It  is  a  very  legal  looking  document  and  inspires 
us  with  almost  as  much  respect  for  ourselves  as 
if  it  were  a  deed  of  large  property.  Afterwards 
we  went  to  the  bank  and  drew  enough  money  to 
pay  a  third  of  the  whole  sum  to  Louis  according 
to  the  terms  of  the  contract.  We  are  to  leave  here 
March  I9th,  and  from  Jaffa,  which  we  will  reach 
in  twenty-four  hours,  our  real  trip  through  Pales- 
tine will  begin.  We  are  anticipating  great  plea- 
sure from  it,  and  hope  that  everything  will  turn 
out  as  pleasantly  as  we  now  expect  it  will. 

We  called  on  Mrs.  Thayer  yesterday  at  Shep- 
heard's,  but  she  was  not  in,  so  we  have  not  seen 
her  yet.  Yesterday  afternoon,  after  coming  home 
from  the  bank,  we  sat  down  on  the  great  veranda 
of  this  hotel,  to  read  and  discuss  our  letters  and 


to  have  afternoon  tea  (which  is  served  free  at  this 
house,  but  is  extra  at  Shepheard's,  and  they  give 
us  cake  and  hot  buttered  toast,  too),  when  Mr. 
Little,  the  American  consul,  came  up  and  joined 
us.  He  seemed  to  enjoy  his  tea  as  much  as  we 
did.  He  is  from  Kansas,  and  has  often  been  in 
St.  Louis,  so  said  he  was  delighted  to  meet  such 
near  neighbors  as  St.  Louis  people.  He  has 
been  here  about  a  month,  and  we  are  the  first  St. 
Louisans  he  has  seen.  He  is  quite  young,  and 
has  no  airs,  as  yet,  but  may  acquire  them  after  a 
while,  as  he  is  much  sought  by  all  the  Americans 
here. 

We  fully  expected  to  find  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harry 
Newberry  here,  on  our  return,  but  learn  that 
Mrs.  Dudgeon  had  a  message  to  go  to  Constan- 
tinople instead,  and  left  Cairo  last  Friday.  I  am 
afraid  Mrs.  Newberry  must  be  in  a  dangerous 
condition,  and  am  so  sorry  for  Mrs.  Dudgeon. 
She  has  been  so  brave  and  cheerful  all  the  time, 
and  was  the  admiration  of  all  on  the  ship,  for  her 
courage.  We  learned  to  love  her  very  much  in- 
deed. 

Now  what  do  you  suppose  we  are  planning  to 
do  for  the  next  few  weeks  ?  and  it  is  to  be  de- 
cided to-day.  Take  an  apartment  and  keep 
house,  if  you  please,  and  we  are  hoping  that  the 
Misses  Coe,  Choate,  and  Merriam  will  join  us, 
if  we  do.  At  one  o'clock  we  are  to  go  with  Louis 
to  look  at  the  rooms,  and  if  we  like  them  and  the 
terms  are  satisfactory,  presto,  change  !  we  will  be 
independent  once  more.  We  can  live  in  that  way 


for  at  least  a  third  less  than  we  pay  at  hotels,  and 
be  much  more  comfortable  and  have  quiet. 

Last  evening  we  had  at  least  a  dozen  callers, 
among  our  ship  companions,  and  never  got  away 
from  them  until  half  past  eleven.  Then  of  course 
it  was  too  late  to  write  any  letters,  and  I  had  to 
go  to  bed  with  at  least  a  dozen  people  on  my 
mind.  Hattie  Sawyer  wrote  me  such  a  charming 
letter  before  she  knew  she  was  going  with  you. 
Thank  her  for  it,  and  tell  her  she  is  a  lady  to 
suggest  that  she  can  do  all  the  letter-writing.  She 
has  been  over  here,  and  can  understand  how  hard 
it  is  to  keep  up  a  large  correspondence.  I  have 
not  been  able  to  answer  the  letters  I  have  received 
since  leaving  home,  to  say  nothing  of  writing  to 
those  who  have  not  sent  me  a  line  either  of  fare- 
well or  welcome  to  Egypt.  Now  please  give  lots 
of  love  from  all  of  us  to  all  of  your  party.  I  am 
sure  Will  and  Martin  will  have  a  good  time. 
Perhaps  Will  would  like  to  have  the  donkey  whip 
I  got  at  Assuan  for  him,  but  he  will  have  to 
wait. 

You  must  have  received  our  letters  from  Gi- 
braltar by  the  ayth  or  28th.  They  were  mailed 
on  the  1 2th,  and  that  would  give  them  about  two 
weeks  to  reach  you. 

Hoping  to  hear  good  news  of  your  health  and 
happiness  in  a  few  days,  with  oceans  of  love  for 
you  and  Will, 

Your  loving  wife, 

LlZZIE     McMlLLAN. 


CONTERET,  CAIRO, 

February  26,  1893. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

It  is  hard  to  realize  that  a  week  ago  we  had 
not  yet  finished  our  journey  on  the  Nile,  for  we 
have  had  so  many  new  experiences  since  then  that 
the  time  seems  much  longer. 

Perhaps  I  mentioned  in  my  last  that  we  had 
drawn  up  our  contract  for  the  Palestine  trip  with 
Louis  Mansour,  dragoman,  and  then  went  to  the 
American  consul  to  have  it  signed  and  sealed. 
Since  then  we  have  added  two  ladies  to  our  party, 
and  as  far  as  we  are  concerned,  our  arrangements 
for  thirty  days  in  the  Holy  Land  are  complete. 
Louis  will  attend  to  all  other  details,  and  all  we 
will  have  to  do  will  be  to  commit  ourselves  to 
his  care  when  the  time  comes,  and  that  time  will 
be  March  1 8th.  A  friend  has  described  Louis  in 
these  words,  which  ought  to  give  one  a  very  good 
idea  of  his  merits :  "  A  Syrian  by  birth,  a  Chris- 
tian by  faith,  a  gentleman  by  nature,  a  dragoman 
by  profession,  and  a  circus  all  the  time." 

At  the  beginning  of  the  week  we  conceived  the 
brilliant  idea  of  going  to  housekeeping  in  Cairo, 
and  thus  escaping  from  the  noise  and  bustle  of  a 
great  hotel.  We  interviewed  Louis  on  the  sub- 
ject, who  said  our  plan  was  feasible,  and  in  a  few 
hours  he  came  for  us  to  go  and  look  at  some 
rooms.  At  the  hotel  were  four  young  ladies,  who 
came  over  on  the  Ems  with  us,  and  with  whom 
we  had  become  very  well  acquainted.  They  were 
charmed  with  the  idea  of  keeping  house,  and 


agreed  to  join  us  if  we  could  find  suitable  quar- 
ters. Well,  the  result  was,  that  on  Wednesday 
last  we  took  possession  of  our  apartment,  and  are 
enjoying  our  home  life  very  much  indeed.  We 
are  seven,  and  a  very  congenial,  merry  party,  and 
have  quite  a  number  of  friends  in  Cairo  who 
come  often  to  see  us  and  take  afternoon  tea  with 
us.  We  have  four  bedrooms  and  a  salon,  which 
serves  as  a  dining-room  as  well  as  a  parlor,  and 
we  are  just  as  cosy  as  can  be,  and  are  actually 
dreading  the  time  when  we  must  break  up  this 
pleasant  arrangement  and  move  on. 

The  weather  is  perfect  now,  and  the  tempera- 
ture is  just  right,  neither  too  hot  nor  too  cold. 
We  are  just  opposite  Shepheard's  hotel,  so  are 
right  in  the  midst  of  all  that  goes  on  without 
having  to  mingle  in  it  unless  we  so  desire.  Our 
meals  are  very  good  indeed,  and  are  served  by  the 
people  of  the  house  without  any  trouble  to  our- 
selves, and  that  is,  you  must  confess,  an  ideal  way 
of  keeping  house. 

Some  of  us  called  yesterday  on  the  ladies  of  the 
American  Mission  in  Cairo.  The  mission  school 
is  very  near  us,  and  we  were  quite  anxious  to  know 
something  about  the  work  among  the  natives.  In 
this  school  there  are  over  three  hundred  boys, 
and  between  one  and  two  hundred  girls.  A  good 
many  of  the  students  are  Mohammedans,  and 
one  of  the  conditions  of  entering  the  school  is 
that  each  child  shall  learn  to  read  the  Bible.  In 
that  way  the  seed  is  sown,  and  in  due  time  brings 
forth  fruit.  Now  there  are  sixteen  churches  in 


Egypt,  which  have  sprung  from  the  labors  of  the 
American  Mission,  and  most  of  these  churches 
have  native  preachers.  ,  This  evening  we  are  go- 
ing over  to  the  service  at  the  Mission,  and  per- 
haps next  Sunday  morning  we  will  go  to  hear  the 
Arabic  service  at  nine  o'clock.  It  does  not  sound 
much  like  Sunday  outside,  as,  the  Arabic  Sunday 
being  on  our  Friday,  business  goes  on  as  usual 
to-day.  I  never  saw  a  people  who  found  it  so 
necessary  to  keep  up  a  continual  noise  as  do  the 
Arabs.  They  are  never  still  a  moment  unless 
asleep,  and  are  either  shouting  at  each  other,  or 
else  making  some  other  kind  of  noise;  so  you 
can  imagine  the  clatter  when  the  streets  are  filled 
with  native  people.  I  have  bought  some  small 
photographs  of  scenes  constantly  before  us,  and 
will  inclose  a  few  of  them  in  each  letter,  in  order 
to  give  you  a  somewhat  better  notion  of  things 
which  I  have  vainly  tried  to  describe.  In  a  few 
days  I  hope  to  have  had  the  novel  experience  of 
riding  on  a  camel's  back.  I  have  already  become 
quite  familiar  with  donkey  riding,  and  have  en- 
joyed it  very  much,  but  decline  to  become  any 
better  acquainted  with  the  buffalo. 

Since  we  have  no  more  temples  and  tombs  to 
see,  I  feel  rather  at  a  loss  for  material  to  make  a 
good  letter;  however,  you  must  take  this  with 
the  love  it  carries  along  with  it,  and  believe  me 
as  ever, 

Your  loving  daughter, 

LIZZIE  McMiLLAN. 


CAIRO,  EGYPT,  March  5,  1893. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

Yours  of  February  8th  reached  me  March  2d, 
so  you  see  that  news  may  become  rather  old  to 
you  before  it  even  gets  to  me.  I  was  glad  to  hear 
that  you  were  well  and  happy  on  your  eightieth 
birthday,  and  by  this  time  you  have  received  my 
letter  containing  congratulations  and  good  wishes 
for  that  occasion. 

I  had  a  letter  from  William  yesterday  written 
from  Eddy,  February  yth,  in  which  he  was  very 
enthusiastic  over  the  house,  and  the  complete  sat- 
isfaction which  my  furnishing  of  it  has  given  him. 
His  letter  was  three  days  longer  on  the  road  than 
yours,  so  if  I  wanted  to  know  something  in  a 
hurry,  a  letter  would  scarcely  answer  the  purpose. 

Our  housekeeping  in  Cairo  prospers  finely,  and 
we  have  many  friends  coming  to  see  us  every  after- 
noon. Fortunately,  most  of  our  sight-seeing  was 
finished  before  we  went  up  the  Nile,  so  we  have 
had  time  to  devote  to  social  duties.  Now,  how- 
ever, most  of  our  friends  have  gone  away,  or  are 
going  very  soon,  so  we  will  not  be  so  busy  during 
the  remainder  of  our  stay  in  Cairo. 

Last  Tuesday  we  made  an  excursion  to  the 
Pyramids  ;  Louis  went  with  us  and  attended  to 
all  the  details  for  us.  It  is  quite  necessary,  in 
dealing  with  the  Arabs,  to  have  a  dragoman 
who  understands  their  language  and  tricky  ways. 
On  our  arrival  we  arranged  to  have  our  pic- 
tures taken  on  camel  back,  and  by  the  time 
that  business  was  settled  we  were  surrounded 


by  camels  and  Arabs.  We  did  not  feel  ex- 
actly comfortable,  to  find  those  huge  ships  of 
the  desert  looking  down  upon  us  whichever  way 
we  turned,  although  assured  by  their  keepers 
that  they  would  not  harm  us ;  but  our  sensa- 
tions then  were  nothing  to  what  they  were 
when  we  gave  ourselves  up  to  the  untried  ex- 
perience of  riding  them.  With  many  an  indig- 
nant grunt  the  camels  were  made  to  lie  down,  and 
one  by  one  we  were  seated  on  the  saddle  ;  then 
came  the  tug  of  war  for  us.  I  will  speak  for  my- 
self and  am  sure  of  expressing  the  sentiments  of 
all  our  party  in  so  doing.  My  camel  rose  to  his 
knees  while  I  leaned  forward;  then  his  hind- 
quarters began  to  go  up  and  I  had  to  lean  back- 
ward as  far  as  possible  to  keep  from  going  over 
his  head.  After  a  space  of  time,  which  seemed 
very  long  to  me,  he  condescended  to  stand  on  all 
four  feet,  and  there  I  sat,  it  seemed  to  me  half 
way  between  earth  and  sky,  feeling  terribly  inse- 
cure. But  in  a  little  while  I  gained  confidence, 
and  instead  of  feeling  that  my  very  life  depended 
on  clinging  to  the  two  horns,  fore  and  aft,  I  used 
the  stirrups  as  a  support,  and  raised  my  umbrella 
to  protect  me  from  the  blazing  sun.  After  we 
were  all  in  our  saddles  the  procession  moved 
through  the  sand  down  towards  the  hollow  where 
the  Sphinx  has  guarded  the  desert  for  so  many 
thousand  years.  There  we  halted  to  allow  the  pho- 
tographer to  pose  us  for  our  pictures.  The  group 
certainly  looked  very  picturesque  as  we  stood 
there,  and  I  hope  a  good  impression  has  been 


taken.  We  have  not  yet  seen  the  proof.  We  were 
not  particularly  impressed  by  the  Sphinx  then,  for 
the  sun  was  very  bright  and  showed  off  the  deface- 
ment of  the  features  too  much ;  but  in  the  even- 
ing we  visited  the  place  by  moonlight  and  were 
enchanted  by  the  whole  scene.  The  massive  face 
looked  calm  and  thoughtful  in  the  moonlight  as 
it  looked  out  beyond  us  over  the  desert,  while 
the  size  of  the  figure  seemed  infinitely  grander 
and  more  magnificent  by  night  than  by  day.  The 
Pyramids,  too,  seemed  to  almost  reach  the  sky  as 
we  looked  up  at  their  mammoth  proportions  in 
passing,  and  the  undulating  curves  of  the  sand- 
hills were  full  of  lights  and  shadows.  We  found 
it  hard  to  tear  ourselves  away  from  such  a  won- 
derfully fascinating  spot,  but  at  last  our  faces  were 
turned  Cairo-wards,  which  we  reached  not  long 
before  midnight. 

Friday  night  we  had  another  excursion  by 
moonlight  up  to  the  citadel  to  see  the  Alabaster 
Mosque  illuminated  on  the  occasion  of  some  kind 
of  Mohammedan  festival.  The  mosque  was  filled 
with  little  starlike  lights  from  candles  and  float- 
ing oil  wicks  in  various  designs,  and  the  effect 
was  beautiful  although  not  brilliant.  Howling 
and  dancing  dervishes  were  performing  their  re- 
ligious exercises  with  many  violent  contortions  of 
the  body  and  head,  and  some  of  them  entered 
into  the  business  with  so  much  fervor  that  others 
were  obliged  to  hold  them  when  the  time  arrived 
for  a  change  in  the  programme.  Such  hideous 
looking  creatures  as  some  of  them  were,  and  the 


holier  the  dervish  the  more  hideous  he  was,  and 
dirty  also.  As  we  came  away  the  lights  were  being 
extinguished  in  a  very  novel  manner.  A  man 
went  about  with  a  long-handled  stick  with  a  curved 
metal  end,  and  inserting  the  curved  end  into  a 
glass  globe,  blew  into  the  other  end,  when,  presto, 
change !  out  went  the  light.  It  seemed  a  very 
simple  way  and  saved  the  necessity  of  going 
around  with  a  ladder. 

The  view  of  Cairo  from  the  citadel  was  beau- 
tiful by  moonlight,  and  we  came  through  some 
of  the  quaint,  narrow  old  streets  on  our  way 
home,  which  were  much  more  picturesque  and  at- 
tractive by  moonlight  than  by  daylight.  All  the 
disagreeable  features  of  these  streets  were  more 
shrouded  in  mystery  when  not  seen  by  the  light  of 
the  noonday  sun,  and  it  was  a  very  pleasant  change. 

We  are  all  at  home  this  morning,  as  no  one 
went  to  the  Arabic  service  at  the  American  Mis- 
sion, and  the  English  service  is  not  until  six 
o'clock  this  evening.  Two  weeks  from  to-day 
we  will  probably  be  in  Jaffa.  Give  my  love  to 
the  family  and  all  inquiring  friends  and  relatives, 
with  much  love  for  your  dear  self. 
Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE    McMlLLAN. 

CAIRO,  March  12,  1893. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

Yours  of  February  I4th  arrived  here  on  the 
loth,  and  I  was  glad  to  learn  that  my  letter  from 
Alexandria  had  at  last  reached  you. 


Since  writing  to  you  a  week  ago  to-day  we 
have  not  done  anything  very  extraordinary  and 
have  not  been  rushing  about  sight-seeing,  and  yet 
every  moment  has  been  pleasantly  occupied.  One 
day  we  spent  at  the  museum  where  all  the  relics 
and  mummies  found  in  the  temples  and  tombs 
along  the  Nile  have  been  placed,  and  we  found 
it  most  interesting.  Of  course  we  could  merely 
glance  at  each  room  in  passing,  for  it  would  take 
months  to  study  everything  thoroughly.  The 
mummies  were  perhaps  the  most  curious  of  all, 
and  it  was  hard  to  realize  that  these  ghastly 
figures  swathed  in  discolored  rags  could  ever  have 
been  haughty  kings  or  beautiful  queens.  Some 
of  the  faces  were  hideous,  while  others  still  pre- 
served a  dignified  bearing  in  spite  of  the  ravages 
of  time.  This  week  there  have  been  quite  an 
unusual  number  of  processions ;  companies  of 
English  soldiers  have  marched  by  with  the  band 
playing  national  songs,  and  soon  followed  by  a 
gay  wedding  procession.  Sometimes  the  bride 
rides  in  a  palanquin  swung  between  the  camels, 
one  in  front  and  one  behind,  and  all  covered  with 
the  most  gorgeous  trappings.  Sometimes  she 
rides  on  the  camel,  and  her  friends  follow  on  other 
camels,  but  in  every  case  the  bride  is  invisible ; 
either  the  windows  of  the  palanquin  are  closed,  or 
else  there  is  a  covered  canopy  over  the  camel  on 
which  she  is  sitting ;  after  a  while  a  company  of 
native  soldiers  passes  along,  and  their  swarthy 
faces  are  generally  finer  than  those  of  the  Eng- 
lish soldiers ;  they  march  wonderfully  well,  too, 


and  their  uniforms  are  irreproachable  in  cut, 
quality,  and  cleanliness.  Presently  a  shout  is 
heard,  and  now  when  we  hear  that  shout  we  say  : 
cc  There  are  some  runners  ;  I  wonder  if  the  Khe- 
dive is  coming  !  "  and  we  run  to  our  balcony  to 
see  what  great  personage  it  may  be.  Last  night 
about  ten  o'clock  the  Khedive  went  past  with  his 
escort  of  soldiers  all  mounted  on  fine  white  horses. 
The  runners  were  dressed  almost  entirely  in  white, 
so  it  was  a  very  pretty  sight  by  gaslight. 

A  few  days  ago  some  of  us  went  to  see  the 
Mission  School  in  operation.  The  boys  and  girls 
are  in  different  rooms,  and  many  of  the  rooms  now 
have  native  teachers.  We  saw  classes  in  arith- 
metic and  geometry.  Girls  were  doing  sums  in 
long  division,  and  boys  were  going  through  geo- 
metrical problems,  and  judging  by  their  quick 
speech  and  rapid  gesticulations  they  understood 
what  they  were  doing ;  much  better,  in  fact,  than 
I  did,  for  I  am  not  yet  very  expert  in  Arabic 
figures,  and  never  did  know  much  about  geome- 
try. Some  of  the  students  have  very  bright,  in- 
telligent faces,  and  some  of  the  little  girls  were 
actually  beautiful  in  face  and  form. 

Last  Monday  afternoon  Mr.  Little,  the  Ameri- 
can consul,  came  to  see  us,  and  we  gave  him  a 
cup  of  coffee  made  by  Janet's  fair  hands.  Our 
party  are  all  very  capable,  excepting  your  humble 
servant,  and  we  find  it  very  convenient  many 
times.  We  have  just  finished  making  five  flags 
with  the  stars  and  stripes,  which  are  to  wave  from 
the  tops  of  our  tents  during  our  trip  through  Pal- 


(  '86  ) 

estine.  We  are  justly  proud  of  them,  and  hope 
they  long  may  wave  to  show  what  the  enterprise 
of  American  women  can  do. 

We  have  had  rain  twice  during  the  past  week. 
Yesterday  the  rain  came  down  in  torrents,  and 
when  it  was  over  I  went  out  to  see  if  the  mail  had 
brought  any  letters  for  us.  The  streets  were  like 
rivers  and  the  mud  was  terrible.  To-day  is  lovely 
and  the  sun  bright,  although  the  air  is  decidedly 
cool.  The  weather  is  changeable  here  as  else- 
where, and  while  it  is  usually  pretty  warm  in  the 
middle  of  the  day  it  is  generally  cool  mornings 
and  evenings. 

Cairo's  crowds  of  tourists  are  departing  rap- 
idly, and  in  a  week  or  two  more  there  will  be 
none  left  in  Egypt,  but  they  will  all  be  in  Pales- 
tine. The  boats  to  Jaffa  are  much  crowded, 
and  if  it  were  not  for  Louis  we  would  feel  very 
nervous  about  our  journey,  which  we  begin  on 
Saturday,  the  i8th.  He  is  ever  looking  out  for 
our  interests,  and  has  secured  accommodations 
for  us,  both  at  Port  Said  and  on  the  steamer  from 
there  to  Jaffa.  Our  camping  outfit  will  be  ready 
for  us  at  Jaffa,  and  from  there  we  start  on  a  thirty 
days'  horseback  and  tenting  tour  through  the 
Holy  Land.  My  time  will  be  very  full  then,  and 
you  need  not  look  for  many  letters  for  a  few 
weeks.  Am  so  glad  you  are  well.  Hope  you 
may  continue  to  be  in  good  health  all  the  time  I 
am  away  from  home.  Much  love  to  you  and  all 
the  family. 

Your  loving  daughter, 

LIZZIE  McMiLLAN. 


HOTEL  CONTERET,  CAIRO, 
March  17,  1893. 

MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

This  is  our  last  day  in  this  most  fascinating 
city.  I  am  going  to  be  very  busy,  and  am  con- 
sequently writing  to  you  before  breakfast,  when  I 
can  be  sure  of  being  uninterrupted.  I  feel  rather 
heavy-eyed  this  morning,  on  account  of  our  un- 
usual dissipation  last  night.  It  was  one  o'clock 
before  I  got  to  bed,  and  as  10.30  is  usually 
my  bedtime  over  here,  there  are  several  hours 
to  be  made  up  somewhere.  I  rose  as  usual  at 
seven,  yesterday,  washed  my  hair  before  break- 
fast, wrote  a  long  letter  after  breakfast,  and  at 
eleven  o'clock  Elizabeth  Merriam  and  I  pre- 
sented ourselves  at  the  American  Mission,  where 
a  guide  was  to  be  in  readiness  to  take  us  to  one 
of  the  girls'  Bible  classes,  which  Miss  Thompson 
has  under  her  charge.  We  found  a  light  wagon 
awaiting  us,  with  a  very  steady  old  horse  before  it, 
and  a  native  in  nightgown  as  driver.  We  got  into 
the  seat,  the  driver  mounted  behind,  as  the  boys 
in  Norway  do,  and  drove  us  through  the  town 
and  a  good  way  beyond  the  railway  station,  and 
finally  landed  us  before  a  stone  building  in  the 
outskirts  of  the  town.  Miss  Thompson  wel- 
comed us  cordially,  and  we  sat  down  to  see  what 
was  being  done.  It  was  a  prayer-meeting,  belong- 
ing to  a  society  of  women  and  girls,  and  the  meet- 
ing was  conducted  almost  entirely  by  the  natives, 
who  seemed  to  possess  much  confidence  and  a 
great  flow  of  language.  Although  not  able  to 


(   188  ) 

understand  a  word,  excepting  as  Miss  Thompson 
interpreted  to  us,  it  was  very  interesting  indeed. 
The  women  seemed  reverent  and  earnest,  and 
quite  willing  to  take  part,  either  in  praying,  recit- 
ing passages  of  Scripture,  or  in  making  remarks. 
They  wore  their  best  clothes,  and  were  very 
much  ornamented  with  long  earrings,  necklaces, 
and  bracelets,  and  there  were  some  fine,  intelli- 
gent, and  even  handsome  faces  among  them. 
After  the  meeting  was  over,  many  of  them  came 
up  to  shake  hands  with  us,  and  in  that  respect 
might  well  be  an  example  to  church  people  in 
America,  for  it  was  very  pleasant  to  receive  a  wel- 
come, even  in  such  a  strange  gathering  as  that 
was.  We  walked  home,  and  did  some  errands 
before  luncheon,  after  which  Emily  Choate  (Hop- 
pie)  and  I  started  out.  I  was  going  with  her  to 
her  banker's,  and  she  was  going  to  help  me  select 
one  or  two  more  Egyptian  spoons.  We  got  back 
about  four  o'clock,  and  then  Alice,  Kate,  and 
Mary  Coe  were  ready  to  go  and  call  at  the 
American  Mission.  We  called  there  and  on  some 
people  at  Shepheard's,  and  when  that  was  done 
donkeys  were  at  the  door  to  take  the  young  ladies 
up  to  the  citadel  for  the  sunset.  Alice,  Louis, 
and  I  went  in  a  carriage,  and  our  procession  made 
quite  a  festive  appearance  as  we  went  through  the 
principal  streets  of  Cairo.  We  drove  up  to  the 
Alabaster  Mosque,  and  then  walked  around  to 
the  further  side,  where  we  could  have  a  good  view 
of  the  setting  sun,  going  down  over  the  city.  A 
soft,  bluish,  hazy  light  settled  over  the  town  as 


(  189  ) 

the  sun  went  out  of  sight,  which  was  very  beau- 
tiful, and  then  the  afterglow  began  to  spread 
and  color  the  horizon  with  gorgeous  effect.  We 
stayed  as  long  as  we  dared,  but  did  not  get  home 
until  seven  o'clock,  and  then  had  to  dress  for  a 
wedding  before  we  could  have  dinner.  If  you 
could  have  seen  the  devices  to  which  we  all  re- 
sorted, in  order  to  make  ourselves  look  fine 
enough  to  go  to  this  high-up  wedding,  you  would 
have  smiled.  You  see  our  trunks  have  all  been 
sent  on  to  Beirut,  and  in  them,  of  course,  are  all 
of  our  best  clothes  ;  but  when  we  were  finally 
arrayed,  we  really  looked  quite  "  expectable,"  as 
our  Turkish  dragoman  used  to  say  in  Constanti- 
nople, and  when  Louis  appeared  at  nine  o'clock 
with  a  corsage  bouquet  for  each  one,  and  a  mam- 
moth  bouquet  of  roses  tied  up  with  red  ribbon, 
which  we  were  to  present  at  the  house,  we  looked 
as  gorgeous  as  any  one  could  desire.  At  one  time 
we  feared  we  would  not  be  able  to  see  an  Egyp- 
tian wedding,  for  already  the  Copt  Lent  has  com- 
menced, and  the  Mohammedan  one  is  about  to 
begin  ;  but  we  found  out,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
week,  that  the  son  of  a  Pasha  was  to  be  married 
on  Thursday  night,  so  Louis  proceeded  to  make 
plans  for  getting  us  admitted.  Alice  wrote  a  note 
to  the  Pasha,  asking  permission  to  come  with 
eight  American  ladies  to  witness  the  festivities, 
and  inclosed  her  card.  Louis  took  the  note, 
got  audience  with  the  Pasha,  told  him  he  had  a 
very  nice  party  who  were  anxious  to  see  the  wed- 
ding, and  came  back  in  triumph,  with  the  words 


(  190  ) 

"  With  great  pleasure  "  written  on  the  back  of 
Alice's  note.  Well,  at  9.15  we  started  for  the 
house  of  the  Pasha,  and,  arriving  there,  were  ad- 
mitted into  a  huge  tent  covering  a  whole  garden. 
The  tent  was  very  high  and  square  across  the  top 
and  sides,  and  was  one  mass  of  brilliant  coloring. 
It  was  lighted  with  great  chandeliers  containing 
candles,  and  the  band-stand  in  the  centre  was 
completely  covered  with  long,  slender,  colored 
lanterns  with  lighted  candles.  The  effect  was 
wonderfully  fine,  and  then  the  whole  place  was 
carpeted  and  arranged  somewhat  like  a  church, 
with  chairs  which  were  filled  with  men,  princi- 
pally, for  no  native  women  were  there,  only  the 
strangers  who,  like  ourselves,  had  come  to  see  the 
affair.  We  were  seated,  and  served  with  coffee, 
and  stared  at  by  all  these  hundreds  and  hundreds 
of  men.  After  a  while  the  usher  who  had  placed 
chairs  for  us  came  and  escorted  us  to  the  entrance 
hall  of  the  house,  and  we  were  told  to  go  upstairs. 
We  found  ourselves  in  a  palace  of  magnificent  pro- 
portions, handsomely  decorated  and  having  exqui- 
site rugs  and  carpets  and  furniture.  Enormous 
crystal  chandeliers  were  lighted  everywhere,  and 
the  rooms  were  full  of  women,  none  of  them 
veiled,  as  no  men  were  allowed  there  excepting 
eunuchs,  and  there  were  plenty  of  them,  black  as 
the  ace  of  spades,  for  they  were  masters  of  cere- 
monies. Such  gorgeous  gowns  as  we  saw  there, 
and  such  grotesque  figures  as  were  inside  them  ! 
There  were  Greek  and  Turkish  ladies,  Egyp- 
tians and  many  others,  and  it  seemed  as  if  all 


classes  were  represented.  There  were  black  faces, 
brown  faces,  yellow  faces,  and  white  faces.  On 
ascending  the  grand  marble  stairs  we  found  our- 
selves in  a  great  hall,  on  either  side  of  which  were 
splendid  rooms.  Those  on  the  right  were  evi- 
dently drawing-room  and  music-room,  and  those 
on  the  left,  the  suite  of  the  bride  and  groom.  The 
first  of  these,  facing  the  front  of  the  house,  con- 
tained a  splendid  canopy  of  white  satin,  heavily 
embroidered  in  gold,  and  on  the  raised  platform 
rested  the  two  chairs  upon  which  the  couple  were 
to  sit  after  a  while.  The  back  of  the  canopy  was 
festooned  with  artificial  roses,  and  a  heavy  gold 
fringe  hung  down  in  front.  The  next  room  was 
the  bedroom,  and  the  bed,  canopy,  and  all  the 
appointments  were  of  satin,  lace,  and  silver  em- 
broidery, while  the  toilet  articles  were  numerous 
and  were  of  massive  silver.  In  this  room  were 
shown  the  toilet  garments  of  the  groom,  and 
everything  was  of  silk  of  the  finest  quality.  Next 
came  the  dressing-room  of  the  bride,  and  here  we 
saw  beautiful  underwear  and  nightdresses,  all  in- 
closed in  beautifully  embroidered  cases. 

After  inspecting  all  these  rooms  we  passed  out 
into  the  hall  and  across  it  to  the  drawing-room 
where  luxurious  chairs  and  sofas  invited  one  to 
rest,  and  here  ladies  were  smoking  cigarettes, 
and  little  tables  held  all  the  requirements  for  this 
pleasure.  On  being  offered  cigarettes,  most  of 
us  accepted,  and  both  Kate  and  I  smoked  ours 
almost  to  the  end.  I  may  become  addicted  to  the 
habit,  and  you  may  find  me  a  confirmed  smoker 


(  19*  ) 

when  I  get  home,  for  it  was  really  rather  agree- 
able than  otherwise. 

About  1 1.30  it  was  noised  among  the  company 
that  the  bride  would  soon  be  brought  through 
the  hall,  and  would  be  taken  to  the  throne  room, 
so  we  proceeded  to  the  hall,  and  while  servants 
and  friends  displayed  many  beautiful  presents  and 
proclaimed  the  donors,  we  watched  and  waited. 
Finally  eunuchs  came  with  lighted  candles  which 
were  at  least  three  feet  high,  and  formed  the  out- 
line of  the  passage  reserved  for  the  bride,  and 
then  she  appeared.  A  lovely  face  she  had,  but 
was  very  pale,  and  fairly  staggering  under  the 
weight  of  her  bridal  array,  although  supported  by 
her  two  maids  of  honor.  A  crown  of  diamonds 
was  on  her  head,  enormous  head-lights  were  in 
her  ears,  her  gown  was  of  heavy  satin,  court  train 
at  least  three  yards  long,  and  woven  in  cloth  of 
gold.  Her  veil  reached  to  the  bottom  of  her 
gown,  and  was  a  mass  of  gold  embroidery.  The 
edge  of  the  gown  was  finished  with  white  ostrich 
tips  and  orange  blossoms.  Her  eyes  were  soft  and 
lustrous,  and  her  expression  was  sad ;  the  latter 
might  have  been  owing  to  the  story  we  heard  of 
her  being  opposed  to  the  marriage.  The  man 
she  has  married  has  two  other  wives  and  is  nei- 
ther very  young  nor  particularly  attractive  look- 
ing. When  we  next  saw  her  she  was  seated  on 
one  of  the  two  armchairs  under  the  canopy,  being 
fanned  by  one  of  her  ladies,  while  her  mother  sat 
on  the  floor  of  the  platform  and  spoke  to  her 
friends,  and  attendants  with  black  faces  and  gay 


(  193  ) 

apparel  were  grouped  about.  It  was  a  most  beau- 
tiful and  picturesque  sight.  As  soon  as  occasion 
offered  we  advanced  by  ones  and  twos  and  pre- 
sented our  bouquets  to  the  mother,  as  we  had 
been  told  to  do,  and  soon  after  descended  the 
stairs,  with  the  expectation  of  coming  away ;  but 
we  were  told  that  the  groom,  who  had  been  to 
the  mosque  with  his  friends  to  pray,  was  soon 
coming,  so  we  remained.  1  was  one  of  our  party 
who  was  fortunate  enough  to  be  quite  near  him 
when  he  appeared,  escorted  by  his  friends,  and 
the  priest  offered  a  prayer  before  he  entered  the 
house.  The  groom  looked  right  at  me  all  the 
time.  Perhaps  he  was  afraid  to  change  his  gaze, 
for  fear  of  being  rattled,  and  when  the  prayer  was 
finished,  his  friends  gave  him  three  cheers,  —  at 
least  it  would  have  been  three  cheers  in  English, 
—  and  he  was  borne  away,  and  was  last  seen  as- 
cending the  stairs,  probably  to  sit  in  the  other 
chair  under  the  canopy.  Then  we  came  away, 
well  satisfied  with  having  seen  one  of  the  finest 
weddings  that  has  taken  place  in  Cairo  this  winter. 
Money  was  showered  upon  the  bride,  as  she 
passed  through  the  hall,  and  I  picked  up  a  piece, 
which  is  very  valuable  to  me,  although  it  only 
represents  one  and  a  half  cents  in  government 
value. 

Now  I  must  write  in  my  journal  and  to  father, 
and  pack,  and  meet  the  consul,  and  go  to  the 
bank,  etc.,  so  that  you  can  easily  see  that  I  am 
not  likely  to  have  much  leisure  to-day.  To-mor- 
row morning  we  leave  at  nine  o'clock,  and  every- 


(  J94  ) 

thing  must  be  ready  to-night.  Since  this  letter 
was  begun  we  have  had  breakfast,  and  have  trans- 
acted a  lot  of  business  with  Louis.  I  bought 
some  copper  things  the  other  day,  and  have  sent 
them  along  with  some  baskets  we  got  up  the 
river.  I  send  an  invoice  of  the  things,  and  sup- 
pose this  box  also  will  remain  unopened  until  my 
return. 

I  think  it  a  very  good  plan  your  spending  all 
your  time  in  Eddy,  and  hope  you  will  gain  a  great 
deal  by  the  good  air  and  comfortable  and  plea- 
sant time  there.  Am  so  glad  that  you  speak  so 
hopefully  of  coming  over  in  June,  but  would  be 
just  as  well  pleased  to  go  home  in  October  as  in 
September.  I  really  do  not  care  particularly  about 
going  to  Chicago,  and  you  might  take  it  in  before 
you  come  over.  You  would  have  no  trouble  in 
making  up  a  nice  party. 

Now  I  must  end  this  awful  letter.    Do  not  be 
quite  dismayed  when  you  see  it.    Much  love  to 
Will  and  to  you  and  the  family. 
Your  loving  wife, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

JERUSALEM,  March  24,  1893. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

A  week  ago  to-day  I  wrote  you  from  Cairo, 
not  knowing  when  I  might  have  another  oppor- 
tunity, but  circumstances  have  favored  letter- 
writing  rather  than  sight-seeing,  for  the  past  two 
days,  so  you  will  hear  from  me  as  usual. 

Saturday  morning,  the  1 8th,  our  party  of  nine, 


besides  Louis  Mansour,  our  dragoman,  left  Cairo. 
It  was  with  real  regret  that  we  came  away  from  that 
fascinating  city,  but  we  had  too  many  other  inter- 
esting places  to  visit  to  be  able  to  linger  there  any 
longer.  We  took  train  to  Ismailia,  passing  through 
the  Land  of  Goshen  and  part  of  the  Arabian  Des- 
ert on  our  way.  Arriving  at  Ismailia  at  noon  we 
took  lunch  before  embarking  on  the  steamer  by 
way  of  the  Suez  Canal.  The  sail  of  about  fifty 
miles  on  this  wonderful  canal  was  most  interest- 
ing, for  it  is  literally  a  water  road  through  the  des- 
ert. At  six  o'clock  we  were  at  Port  Said,  a  very 
picturesque  looking  town  at  the  junction  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  and  the  canal.  There  we  spent 
the  night  and  until  five  o'clock  the  next  afternoon, 
when  we  left  on  a  large  steamer  of  the  French  line 
for  Jaffa.  The  weather  was  beautiful  and  the  sea 
perfectly  smooth  all  night,  and  we  were  able  to 
land  at  Jaffa  very  comfortably  in  small  boatl. 
Jaffa  has  no  harbor  and  a  rocky  coast,  so  that 
landing  there  in  rough  or  stormy  weather  is  often 
a  very  troublesome  and  dangerous  undertaking, 
so  we  felt  that  we  were  very  fortunate  indeed. 
Michael,  our  second  dragoman,  who  had  gone 
ahead  ten  days  before  to  prepare  for  our  recep- 
tion at  Jaffa,  came  off  to  meet  us,  and  before  long 
we  were  safely  landed  amid  the  motley  crowd  of 
natives  on  the  shore,  and  were  carefully  conducted 
through  the  dirty,  narrow  streets,  and  to  the  ele- 
vated ground  just  back  of  the  town,  where  we  had 
seen  the  American  flags  waving  from  our  encamp- 
ment. We  reached  our  tents  about  7.30  Mon- 


(  196  ) 

day  morning,  the  2Oth,  and  found  breakfast  ready 
for  us.  Everything  was  in  order,  and  all  we  had 
to  do  was  to  take  possession  of  our  comfortable 
little  houses.  Each  tent  was  lined  with  bright 
Egyptian  patchwork,  in  designs  something  like 
the  bedquilts  which  used  to  be  so  fashionable, — 
the  grassy  and  flower-bedecked  earth  was  covered 
with  heavy  rugs,  one  or  two  iron  folding  beds, 
according  to  the  number  of  persons,  were  in  each 
tent,  and  the  linen  was  beautifully  white,  while 
the  blankets  were  scarlet.  There  was  a  table  with 
bowl,  and  pitcher,  and  toilet  articles,  also  a  silver 
candlestick  and  box  of  matches  ready  for  use. 
A  comfortable  chair  completed  the  furniture  of 
the  attractive  little  room.  When  we  went  into  the 
saloon  tent  for  breakfast  we  found  a  table  covered 
with  fine  linen  and  set  with  nice  china  and  glass- 
ware, and  silver  knives,  forks,  and  spoons  ;  in  fact 
we  seemed  to  have  every  comfort  one  would  ex- 
pect in  a  private  house,  and  plenty  of  good  things 
to  eat  besides.  Of  course  we  were  delighted  with 
our  surroundings,  and  made  ourselves  at  home. 
The  day  was  warm  and  bright,  and  we  felt  that 
our  camping  life  had  begun  in  the  most  delight- 
ful way.  All  our  horses  and  pack  mules  were 
tethered  near  the  camp,  and  after  lunch  the 
saddles  were  put  on  and  we  went  for  a  trial  ride. 
Some  of  our  party  had  never  been  on  horseback, 
and  were  quite  nervous,  but  every  one  bore  the 
test  very  well,  and  after  a  while  each  person  had 
a  horse  and  saddle,  which  seemed  just  as  it  ought 
to  be.  Later  in  the  afternoon  we  took  a  stroll 


(  197  ) 

around  Jaffa,  and  picking  our  way  very  carefully 
along  the  crooked,  dirty,  narrow  alleys,  which 
they  call  streets,  we  came  to  an  ancient  stone 
building  of  one  story,  which  is  said  to  have  been 
Simon  the  tanner's  house.  It  is  now  used  for  a 
mosque,  and  is  empty,  and  anything  but  an  at- 
tractive looking  place.  Out  in  the  court  we  found 
old  stone  stairs  leading  to  the  roof,  and  mount- 
ing them  we  found  ourselves  on  a  flat  stone  roof 
with  a  domelike  elevation  in  the  centre,  and  all 
the  other  roofs  in  the  neighborhood  were  just  the 
same.  The  view  seaward  was  very  fine,  and  the 
sunset  was  glorious. 

When  we  reached  camp,  dinner  was  ready,  and 
soon  afterwards  we  went  to  bed,  as  next  day  was 
to  be  the  beginning  of  our  travels  through  Pales- 
tine. Louis  called  us  at  6.30  Tuesday  morning, 
and  by  the  time  we  had  finished  breakfast  our 
tents  had  disappeared  and  the  pack  mules  were 
being  loaded.  You  can  have  no  idea  how  much 
work  it  is  to  break  camp,  but  those  men,  who 
are  accustomed  to  that  sort  of  thing,  manage 
to  do  it  in  an  incredibly  short  time.  At  nine 
o'clock  we  were  in  our  saddles  and  leaving  Jaffa 
behind. 

Of  course  there  were  some  delays  this  first  day, 
on  account  of  restive  animals,  slipping  saddles, 
and  nervous  riders,  but  Louis  was  equal  to  all 
emergencies,  and  when  we  camped  at  Ramleh  for 
lunch  at  noon  we  were  delighted  with  the  ride,  the 
scenery,  and  with  our  able  manager.  Ramleh  is 
said  to  have  been  the  birthplace  of  Joseph  of 


Arimathaea.  Our  lunch  tent  was  pitched  where 
an  ancient  mosque  once  stood,  of  which  the  tower 
and  some  of  the  old  walls  only  remain.  After 
lunch  we  climbed  the  tower  for  the  view,  which 
was  magnificent.  On  one  side  lay  the  plain  of 
Sharon,  through  which  we  had  passed  during  the 
morning ;  fertile  fields  and  olive  orchards  lay  be- 
tween us  and  the  hills  of  Jordan,  while  Ramleh 
was  at  our  feet.  In  the  afternoon  we  rode  four 
hours  before  reaching  our  camp,  and  never  did 
seven  tents  look  so  inviting  before.  Twenty- 
two  miles  on  horseback,  going  at  a  slow  pace,  is 
enough  for  even  a  good  rider,  so  you  can  ima- 
gine how  glad  we  were  to  rest.  Dinner  and  then 
bed  was  the  order  for  that  evening. 

Wednesday  morning  the  patter  of  rain  on  my 
tent  was  not  a  pleasant  sound,  and  I  wondered  if 
we  would  go  on  or  stay  for  clear  weather.  We 
were  aroused  at  6.30  as  usual,  and  after  breakfast 
decided  to  at  least  try  to  make  half  a  day  in  order 
to  reach  a  better  camping  ground.  After  we  were 
once  under  way  it  was  easier  to  go  on  than  to  halt, 
so  we  pushed  on  for  Jerusalem,  mostly  up  hill, 
in  one  of  the  worst  storms  I  ever  experienced ; 
the  wind  was  a  perfect  gale,  sleet  blinded  the 
horses,  and  during  the  last  hour  snow  fell  in  large 
flakes.  Sometimes  it  seemed  as  if  we  would  be 
blown  from  the  road  into  the  valley,  but  our 
horses  acted  splendidly,  and  before  sunset  we 
trailed  into  the  modern  city  of  Jerusalem,  a  wet, 
weary,  and  bedraggled  procession.  It  was  too 
stormy  to  attempt  camping,  and  the  hotels  could 


(  199  ) 

not  take  us  in,  so  Louis  brought  us  to  this  con- 
vent where  the  monks  gave  us  a  warm  welcome, 
and  we  have  been  comfortably  housed  ever  since. 
In  twenty-five  years  of  constant  travel  in  Pales- 
tine, Louis  says  he  never  saw  such  weather  as  this 
but  once  before.  Yesterday  morning  the  snow 
was  several  inches  deep,  and  the  storm  has  con- 
tinued with  unabated  fury  until  since  I  have  been 
writing  this  letter.  Strange  to  say,  none  of  us 
have  suffered  the  least  inconvenience  from  our 
exposure,  but  we  were  fortunate  in  having  had 
plenty  of  brandy  with  us,  and  used  it  liberally. 

As  yet  we  have  not  seen  Jerusalem,  but  as  the 
sun  has  come  out  at  last  we  will  probably  make 
up  for  lost  time  to-day.  This  cold  weather  will 
not  last  long,  and  in  a  few  days  we  will  be  enjoy- 
ing balmy  breezes  again.  The  gardens  and  the 
country  are  filled  with  gay  flowers,  and  only  the 
hills  of  Judaea  look  bleak  and  bare.  We  will  be 
here  until  Monday,  and  then  expect  to  make  a 
three  days*  trip  to  the  Jordan,  Dead  Sea,  and 
Bethlehem.  We  will  return  here  for  Holy  Thurs- 
day and  Good  Friday,  and  start  on  Saturday, 
April  ist,  for  a  ten  days'  ride  to  Damascus. 

I  have  written  this  letter  before  breakfast,  and 
it  is  not  yet  8.15.  Remember  me  lovingly  to  the 
family  and  friends.  Your  last  letter  was  received 
March  lyth,  the  same  day  on  which  I  wrote  you 
last. 

Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 


(    2OO    ) 

FRANCISCAN  HOSPICE,  JERUSALEM, 
March  25,  1893. 

MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

I  wrote  you  from  our  camp  at  Jaffa  on  the 
2Oth,  and  Will  from  here  on  the  230!,  and  am 
going  to  try  to  send  you  a  missive  to-night. 
We  have  been  at  work  so  hard  all  day  that  I 
am  pretty  tired,  and  will  not  be  able  to  do  my 
subject  justice,  but  one  thing  I  can  say,  it  has 
been  a  most  interesting  day.  I  wrote  Will  on 
Thursday  and  detailed  the  experiences  of  Wednes- 
day in  the  sleet  and  snow.  Strange  to  relate, 
not  one  of  us  took  cold,  and  we  are  just  as  well  as 
any  one  could  wish. 

Yesterday  morning  it  was  still  raining,  but 
some  of  the  party  ventured  out.  I  was  one  who 
remained  at  home,  because  I  did  not  relish  walk- 
ing in  the  slush,  but  after  lunch  we  all  went  to 
the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  where  there 
are  so  many  relics  of  Christ,  and  remembrances 
of  his  life,  sufferings,  and  death.  It  is  a  wonder- 
ful church,  especially  from  its  associations,  and  in 
it  I  really  felt  myself  on  holy  ground.  Just  as  we 
entered,  the  Greek  Patriarch  with  his  priests  came 
in,  and  after  paying  devotion  in  the  Holy  Sep- 
ulchre, where  Christ  is  said  to  have  been  buried, 
he  was  put  into  his  sacred  robes,  and  entering  the 
Greek  chapel  was  placed  in  his  chair  with  great 
pomp  and  ceremony,  after  which  the  service  be- 
gan. The  place  was  filled  with  pilgrims,  and  most 
of  them  were  Russians,  who  looked  as  uncouth 
as  they  did  in  their  native  country,  with  their 


(    201    ) 

bushy  hair  cut  off  straight,  and  their  ugly  frock 
coats.  We  spent  some  time  in  going  to  all  the 
points  of  interest  in  the  church,  and  then  visited 
some  of  the  shops  where  olive-wood  articles  are  a 
specialty. 

The  streets  of  old  Jerusalem  (and  we  are  in  the 
old  part)  are  very  narrow,  crooked,  and  dirty,  and 
every  little  way  are  steps,  and  often  a  whole  street 
will  be  under  cover  and  vaulted  like  the  nave 
of  a  church.  This  morning  we  started  for  the 
Mosque  of  Omar,  with  Louis  and  Michael,  and  a 
soldier  as  guard.  We  saw  nothing  all  the  morn- 
ing to  make  us  feel  that  a  guard  was  necessary ; 
the  sheik  of  the  mosque,  who  seemed  to  feel  a 
great  friendship  for  Louis,  and  who  showed  us 
around,  was  most  bland  and  gracious  to  all  of  us. 
What  is  commonly  called  the  Mosque  of  Omar 
is  really  a  shrine,  is  very  large  and  magnificent, 
reminding  me  of  the  gorgeousness  of  the  Russian 
and  Greek  mosques  in  the  beautiful  windows  and 
fine  mosaic  work,  both  inside  and  outside.  In 
the  centre  of  the  building,  under  the  dome,  is  the 
great  rock,  sixty  feet  long  and  nearly  as  wide, 
through  which  it  is  said  Mohammed  mounted 
to  heaven,  and  on  the  top  of  this  rock  Abraham 
made  burnt  offerings.  They  show  the  footprint 
of  Mohammed  and  the  hand-print  of  Gabriel, 
and  some  wonderful  old  marble  altars,  which  are 
said  to  have  come  out  of  Solomon's  Temple. 
The  real  Mosque  of  Omar  is  some  hundreds  of 
yards  across  the  stone-flagged  court,  and  while 
very  extensive,  is  much  like  any  of  the  mosques 


(    2O2    ) 

either  in  Cairo  or  in  Constantinople.  Solomon's 
stables  stretch  over  a  great  part  of  Mount  Mo- 
riah,  and  under  the  two  mosques.  These  stables 
have  only  been  excavated  about  two  years,  and 
are  undoubtedly  very  ancient,  and  probably  were 
the  real  stables  belonging  to  Solomon.  There 
would  have  been  plenty  of  room  for  several  thou- 
sand horses  in  those  large  and  numerous  vaults. 
After  coming  up  from  the  stables  we  walked 
along  the  city  wall  a  short  distance,  and  looking 
out  between  the  turrets  saw  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
with  Gethsemane  on  one  side  lower  down  and 
the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat  in  the  foreground.  We 
were  shown  the  place  where  the  Pool  of  Siloam 
is  and  where  the  Pool  of  Bethesda  used  to  be. 
The  walls  of  Jerusalem  are  irregular  in  form  and 
very  high,  but  the  distance  around  is  only  about 
two  and  a  half  miles.  Some  of  our  party  walked 
nearly  around  them  this  afternoon.  On  our  way 
home  this  morning  we  stopped  at  the  Sisters  of 
Zion  Convent,  and  were  shown  the  corner  stone 
of  Pilate's  house,  and  then  were  led  to  the  roof 
for  the  view  of  the  city,  which  was  very  fine.  To- 
day has  been  a  beautiful  day  and  actually  hot 
in  the  sun.  It  seemed  very  odd  to  see  the  boys 
making  snowballs  in  the  streets,  and  to  feel  the 
balmy  air  at  the  same  time.  Some  of  the  distant 
hills  look  quite  white,  but  the  snow  has  all  gone 
from  the  city,  excepting  in  corners.  After  lunch 
we  went  to  Mount  Zion.  You  might  think  it  a 
long  way  off,  but  it  took  us  only  a  few  minutes 
to  reach  the  place  where  David  is  said  to  be 


buried,  and  in  the  upper  room  of  this  building 
we  saw  the  place  where  the  Last  Supper  was  laid. 
-  Some  distance  further  on  we  came  to  the  site  of 
the  house  of  Caiaphas,  and  where  Christ  was  im- 
prisoned. This  morning  we  traversed  Via  Dolo- 
rosa,  the  street  where  are  seven  stations,  detailing 
Christ's  sufferings  on  the  way  to  the  crucifixion. 
The  street  itself  is  arched  and  gloomy,  and  not 
very  clean,  especially  just  now  when  there  has 
been  so  much  rain  and  snow,  and  when  so  many 
pilgrims  are  in  the  city. 

To-morrow  morning  we  are  to  have  breakfast 
at  six  o'clock,  and  then  go  to  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Sepulchre  to  witness  the  ceremonials  of 
Palm  Sunday.  We  will  be  occupied  there  until 
about  ten,  then  back  to  lunch  at  eleven,  and  at 
twelve  our  horses  will  be  here  and  we  will  ride 
over  to  Bethlehem  and  back  before  evening. 
Dinner  we  will  take  in  camp,  and  on  Monday 
morning  will  start  for  Jericho,  Jordan,  and  the 
Dead  Sea.  We  are  hoping  for  good  weather,  and 
it  looks  clear,  so  we  will  hope  for  the  best.  I 
have  to  pack  my  traps  to-night,  as  the  luggage 
will  be  taken  over  to  the  camp  while  we  are  in 
church  to-morrow.  We  will  return  to  Jerusalem 
on  Wednesday  night,  and  spend  Holy  Thursday 
and  Good  Friday  here,  and  on  Saturday  start  for 
Damascus. 

Give  my  love  to  all  friends,  and  remember  me 
warmly  to  Dr.  Smith  and  Mr.  McCool.  Much 
love  to  Will  and  to  you. 

Your  loving  wife, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 


204 

IN  CAMP,  OPPOSITE  THE  DAMASCUS  GATE, 

JERUSALEM,  March  31,  1893. 
MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

Since  my  last  letter  on  the  25th  I  have  been 
too  much  occupied  to  write,  and  when  you  hear 
of  all  our  experiences  you  will  think  we  have  had 
enough  to  do  and  are  very  tough  besides.  I  am 
writing  in  my  tent  before  breakfast,  and  this  is 
Good  Friday,  and  the  sun  is  shining.  I  mention 
this  latter  fact  because  it  has  been  the  exception 
for  the  sun  to  shine  during  the  past  two  weeks, 
and  we  are  all  very  thankful  to  see  it.  Louis  says 
the  weather  is  finished  now,  and  by  that  he  means 
that  we  are  to  have  good  weather. 

I  wrote  you  on  Saturday,  and  as  the  next  day 
was  Palm  Sunday  we  rose  at  five  o'clock,  and  a 
little  after  six  were  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre  to  hear  and  see  the  service.  Louis  got 
a  place  for  us  in  the  Greek  Chapel  directly  oppo- 
site the  entrance  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre  where 
everything  took  place,  and  as  we  were  about  six 
feet  above  the  floor  we  had  a  splendid  view.  We 
stood  for  three  hours  looking  at  rites  and  cere- 
monies, processions,  gorgeous  gowns,  etc.,  and 
were  very  much  interested,  but  I  cannot  attempt 
to  describe  it.  You  have  seen  Catholic  services, 
and  so  can  imagine  something  of  its  gorgeous- 
ness,  and  the  palm  branches  were  very  promi- 
nent in  the  service.  After  our  return  to  the  Hos- 
pice we  got  ready  to  leave,  and  after  luncheon  at 
11.30  we  started  about  12.30  on  horseback  for 
Bethlehem.  It  was  very  pleasant  when  we  started, 


and  we  had  a  delightful  ride  over  the  six  miles  of 
hill  and  dale  between  Jerusalem  and  Bethlehem. 
The  town  is  beautifully  situated  on  a  hill,  but, 
as  usual,  distance  lent  enchantment,  for  on  enter- 
ing the  narrow  streets  we  found  them  just  as 
dirty  and  smelly  as  any  of  the  other  Palestine 
villages.  It  is  a  town  of  about  7000  inhabitants, 
closely  built,  the  houses  all  being  crowded  upon 
each  other  until  one  reaches  the  market  place, 
just  by  the  old  Church  of  the  Nativity.  In  this 
ancient  building  where  the  Greeks,  Latins,  and 
Armenians  each  have  their  separate  chapel,  and 
even  then  must  have  soldiers  to  keep  the  peace, 
we  found  a  corner  away  from  all  the  rest,  where 
Christ  was  born  and  cradled  in  a  manger.  One 
cannot  help  having  a  feeling  of  awe  and  of  ten- 
derness also,  when  standing  in  this  sacred  place. 
We  entered  and  retired  reverently,  and  then  were 
taken  to  another  chapel  not  far  away,  which  is 
called  the  "  Milk  Grotto."  It  is  the  place  where 
Mary  hid  herself  awhile  after  the  birth  of  Christ, 
and  the  story  is  told  how  a  drop  of  her  milk  fell 
upon  the  floor  and  whitened  the  whole  place. 
Afterwards  we  walked  along  a  lane  to  the  out- 
skirts of  the  town,  and  from  this  elevation  looked 
down  upon  the  Shepherds*  Field,  where  the  shep- 
herds watched  their  flocks  by  night,  when  Christ 
was  born  in  Bethlehem  of  Judaea,  in  the  City 
of  David,  and  where  Ruth  gleaned  in  the  field  of 
Boaz.  The  two  fields  were  almost  side  by  side. 
By  the  time  we  were  ready  to  start  for  Jerusalem 
it  was  raining,  so  we  donned  our  rubbers  and 


(    206    ) 

waterproofs  and  returned  to  camp  in  the  rain. 
Our  luggage  had  been  sent  over  from  the  Hos- 
pice, so  we  were  soon  settled  and  eating  a  good 
dinner,  and  glad  enough  to  be  back  in  camp. 
That  night  the  heavens  were  opened,  and  thunder 
rolled  and  the  wind  blew  great  guns.  The  wind 
can  blow  in  Palestine,  as  we  have  reason  to  know, 
and  when  it  rains  the  harder  the  wind  blows. 
Monday  morning  the  storm  was  still  raging,  so 
we  concluded  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  stay 
where  we  were.  It  was  a  fearful  day  and  seemed 
to  grow  worse  instead  of  better,  but  Tuesday 
morning,  although  it  was  still  raining,  Louis  said 
we  had  better  start  for  Jericho,  so  during  a  lull 
we  got  off  at  nine  o'clock.  It  rained  for  a  couple 
of  hours,  as  we  passed  Gethsemane,  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  and  Bethany,  in  our  windings  down 
the  hills  to  the  valley  of  Jericho.  We  literally 
went  down  to  Jericho,  for  it  was  down  hill  most 
of  the  way.  At  noon  we  halted  for  lunch  at  the 
Samaritan  Inn,  on  a  hill,  and  while  there  is 
nothing  left  of  the  original  inn  where  the  Good 
Samaritan  carried  the  poor  man  who  had  been 
robbed  and  left  for  dead  by  the  wayside,  there  is 
a  large  inclosure  with  a  high  stone  wall  and  one 
end  covered.  Horses  and  people  all  entered  this 
large  courtyard,  and  we  found  a  table  spread  with 
our  lunch,  which  looked  very  inviting. 

The  afternoon  was  lovely,  sunny,  and  warm, 
and  while  the  road  was  not  very  good  some  of 
the  way,  we  got  along  splendidly.  They  are  build- 
ing a  carriage  road  which  will  be  complete  before 


(  207  ) 

long,  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericho,  and  perhaps  to 
the  Jordan  and  the  Dead  Sea  too.  I  am  sure  it  is 
needed  badly  enough.  Near  the  end  of  our  jour- 
ney we  came  to  the  Brook  Cherith,  where  Elijah 
was  fed  by  the  ravens.  We  were  on  top  of  a  hill 
where  we  looked  down  about  five  hundred  feet  into 
a  gorge,  where  the  river  rushed  between  the  banks, 
and  the  view  all  around  was  magnificent.  On  the 
left  was  this  wild  gorge,  and  to  the  right  the  hills 
were  soft  and  hazy  in  the  afternoon  light,  and  we 
could  see  a  portion  of  the  Dead  Sea,  which  looked 
as  blue  as  the  Mediterranean.  In  front  stretched 
the  valley,  with  Jericho,  or  where  it  once  stood, 
in  the  distance.  When  we  reached  the  valley  we 
had  to  ford  the  river,  and  what  seemed  a  mere 
thread  of  silver,  in  looking  down  upon  it,  turned 
out  to  be  a  turbulent  stream  twenty  or  thirty 
feet  wide,  very  rapid  and  with  steep,  stony  banks. 
It  was  quite  an  exciting  time  getting  over,  for 
Louis  and  his  men  shouted  continually,  the 
horses  and  their  riders  were  nervous,  and  we  felt 
as  if  we  wished  we  had  n't  come.  However,  all 
went  well,  and  soon  we  were  climbing  the  wind- 
ing road  around  the  hills,  until  at  last  the  wel- 
come tents  appeared  before  us.  We  had  a  beau- 
tiful sunset  and  a  delicious  dinner.  How  they 
manage  to  get  so  far  ahead  of  us,  and  to  have 
everything  ready  on  our  arrival,  is  one  of  the 
wonders  to  which  we  do  not  get  accustomed,  but 
it  is  very  delightful.  The  baggage  goes  on  while 
we  halt  for  lunch,  and  during  this  time  all  the 
work  is  accomplished.  We  had  a  very  comfort- 


(    208    ) 

able  night,  and  next  morning  the  sun  was  shin- 
ing, but  it  did  not  last  long.  At  nine  we  were 
off,  leaving  the  camp  behind,  for  Jericho,  the 
Dead  Sea,  and  the  River  Jordan. 

Our  road  was  by  many  a  winding  path,  for  of 
highroads  there  were  none.  Up  hill  and  down 
hill,  and  over  rocky  streams  we  went  for  half  an 
hour  or  more  until  we  entered  the  little  miser- 
able village  which  stands  on  the  site  of  ancient 
Jericho.  Bedouin  tents  and  Arab  huts  were  near 
together,  and  a  small,  forlorn  looking  hotel  stood 
ready  to  take  in  the  innocent  traveler.  We  did 
not  stop,  as  we  saw  all  we  wanted  to  see  of  the 
place  from  our  saddles.  Not  long  after  we  had 
passed  by  Jericho  the  thunderstorm  broke,  but  we 
were  ready  for  it,  and  would  not  have  minded  it 
if  the  valley  had  not  been  of  white  clay,  which 
soon  became  very  sticky  as  well  as  very  slippery. 
I  would  not  have  believed  that  the  company 
could  go  up  and  down  such  awful  places  as  we 
did.  Once  we  had  to  dismount  and  walk  down  a 
bad  place.  The  trip  to  the  Dead  Sea,  which  usu- 
ally takes  two  hours,  took  us  three  and  a  half, 
and  when  we  arrived  there  was  not  a  place  to  sit  or 
stand  excepting  on  the  pebbly  beach.  The  whole 
plain  is  the  most  desolate  place  you  ever  saw,  not 
excepting  the  Yuma  Desert,  —  nothing  growing 
but  a  few  stunted  shrubs,  and  the  rest  a  dreary 
waste  of  white  clay  which  would  have  been  dust 
on  a  dry,  hot  day.  The  usual  accompaniments 
to  a  trip  to  the  Dead  Sea,  dust  and  great  heat, 
we  did  not  have,  but  the  wind  was  awful.  We 


(  209  ) 

looked  at  the  sea  from  our  saddles,  and  it  looked 
gray  and  sullen,  with  good-sized  waves  rolling  in 
with  a  desolate  sound.  We  were  glad  to  leave  it 
behind,  and  make  for  the  Jordan,  without  wait- 
ing for  lunch.  We  rode  through  a  brook-path 
all  the  way,  another  hour  and  a  half,  and  finally 
reached  the  banks  of  the  famous  river,  now  swollen 
to  more  than  twice  its  usual  size  by  the  heavy 
rains.  Here  the  lunch  tent  was  pitched  and  we 
were  fortunate  enough  to  have  no  rain  there. 
The  banks  were  lined  with  shrubs  and  bushes  and 
a  few  good-sized  trees,  while  the  valley  was  quite 
green  and  had  plenty  of  wild  flowers  blooming 
in  it. 

We  went  back  to  camp  by  a  different  route, 
thus  avoiding  the  bad  road  of  the  morning.  We 
passed  and  met  many  pilgrims  on  their  way  to 
and  from  the  Jordan,  and  saw  some  of  them  bath- 
ing in  it.  We  had  a  Bedouin  guard  from  the  time 
of  leaving  Jerusalem  until  we  got  back,  as  they 
say  it  is  not  safe  to  travel  in  this  country  without 
one.  He  was  a  very  handsome  man,  with  a  fine 
horse,  and  took  good  care  of  us.  It  was  pleasant 
to  get  back  to  our  comfortable  camp  after  such 
a  hard  day,  but  we  all  stood  it  finely. 

Yesterday  morning  we  broke  camp  and  started 
at  8.30  for  Jerusalem.  The  day  was  beautiful. 
We  rode  five  hours,  lunched  at  the  Apostles' 
Fountain,  and  then  came  on  to  Bethany,  where 
we  stopped  to  see  the  Fount  of  Lazarus  and  the 
burial  place  of  Mary  and  Martha.  Then  we 
climbed  the  hill  to  the  Mount  of  Olives,  got  a 


(    210    ) 

view  of  Jerusalem  from  it,  then  went  down  to 
Gethsemane,  and  then  to  camp. 

We  went  this  afternoon  to  the  wailing  place 
of  the  Jews.  This  service  occurs  every  Friday 
afternoon,  by  an  old  wall,  which  is  said  to  have 
been  a  part  of  the  ancient  temple.  It  was  quite 
a  curious  sight,  to  see  them  waving  their  bodies 
back  and  forth  and  uttering  wailing  sounds  as 
they  mourn  over  the  desolation  which  has  come 
to  the  Jews. 

I  am  trying  to  finish  this  so  that  we  may  take 
it  to  the  post  this  morning,  and  they  are  waiting 
for  me.    So  with  much  love  to  you  and  to  all 
friends  and  to  Will,  from  the  Fishers  and  me,  , 
Your  loving  wife, 

LlZZIE    McMlLLAN. 

We  are  all  well,  and  are  to  start  to-morrow  on  a 
ten  days'  trip  to  Damascus. 

JENIN,  PALESTINE,  April  4,  1893. 
MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

I  am  sitting  at  my  tent  door,  a  candle  on  a 
stool  to  light  my  paper,  and  the  sounds  of  the 
camp  in  my  ears.  Our  tents  are  in  a  circle,  and 
Japanese  lanterns  lend  a  mysterious  light  to  the 
place.  The  dining  saloon  is  almost  opposite  to 
me,  and  I  see  that  dinner  is  nearly  ready.  We 
have  earned  a  rest,  for  we  have  come  about 
twenty  miles  over  the  hills  and  mountains  of 
Samaria,  and  have  been  nearly  eight  hours  in  the 
saddle.  Traveling  in  Palestine  is  not  mere  child's 
play,  I  can  tell  you,  but  we  are  a  plucky  set  of 


women,  and  are  doing  things  in  the  equestrian 
line  every  day  which  we  would  have  deemed 
quite  impossible  a  few  weeks  ago. 

Dinner  was  announced  just  here,  and  there  was 
no  delay  from  our  nine  in  responding  to  the  call. 
It  is  perfectly  astonishing  how  well  Alice  stands 
the  riding.  She  seems  quite  as  fresh  as  any  of 
us  at  the  end  of  each  day,  and  I  must  confess 
that  I  had  my  doubts  about  her  being  able  to 
stand  the  trip.  We  have  a  great  deal  of  fun. 
Miss  Dodge  is  very  bright,  and  she  and  Kate  are 
sharp-shooting  continually,  which  affords  us  all 
a  great  deal  of  amusement. 

I  was  so  disappointed  not  to  get  any  letters  at 
Jerusalem  !  We  only  arranged  to  have  one  mail 
sent  there,  knowing  how  irregular  the  mails  are 
in  this  country,  but  on  our  return  from  Jericho 
we  could  not  get  anything  on  Friday  because  it  was 
Good  Friday,  nor  on  Saturday  because  it  was 
the  day  before  Easter,  so  there  was  nothing  to 
do  but  to  give  directions  to  have  our  mail  sent 
v  on  to  Damascus. 

We  broke  camp  on  Saturday  morning,  April 
ist,  and  set  off  on  the  real  cross  country  journey. 
If  you  could  see  the  only  highway  which  is  be- 
tween Jerusalem  and  Damascus,  you  would  won- 
der that  I  am  alive  to  tell  the  tale.  Only  a  bridle 
path  at  most,  and  of  the  worst  kind.  Your  im- 
agination, however  vivid  it  may  be,  can  picture 
nothing  to  equal  it.  The  trail  up  the  mountain 
at  Chamouni  was  a  marble  floor  beside  this. 
Rocks  so  thick  that  it  seems  more  like  the  bed 


of  a  dried  up  stream,  than  anything  else,  and  it 
has  been  like  going  up  and  down  stairs,  and  by 
no  means  shallow  steps,  either.  Up  and  down 
over  the  hills  of  Judaea  and  Samaria  have  we 
gone  in  this  way  for  four  days.  You  can  easily 
see  that  to  cover  eighteen  or  twenty  miles  at  a 
snail's  pace  we  must  be  many  hours  in  the  sad- 
dle, and  yet  we  have  stood  it  splendidly,  are  all 
well,  have  good  appetites  for  all  the  good  things 
Louis  provides  for  us,  and  are  enjoy  ing  ourselves 
and  the  sight-seeing  very  much.  It  is  such  an 
interesting  country  and  the  views  are  so  fine,  that 
there  is  always  something  pleasant  to  think  and 
talk  about. 

Saturday  night  we  camped  at  Bethel,  the 
place  where  Jacob  saw  the  ladder  with  the  angels 
ascending  and  descending  on  it.  Sunday  we 
lunched  at  Shiloh.  Nothing  remains  of  that 
place  but  the  ruins  of  an  old  church  on  one  hill 
and  a  small  sanctuary  on  another,  and  this  latter 
place  is  said  to  be  where  the  ark  of  the  Lord 
rested  for  three  hundred  years.  Our  lunch  tent 
was  pitched  there,  and  we  explored  the  dark  in- 
terior, where  four  marble  pillars  remain  standing. 
The  hills  of  Judaea  are  stony  and  bare,  with  not 
a  tree  to  be  seen,  but  those  of  Samaria  are  green 
and  fertile,  and  great  olive  and  fig  orchards  cover 
the  hillsides,  while  the  valleys  are  beautiful  with 
growing  grain  and  many-colored  wild  flowers.  It 
was  among  these  valleys  that  Jacob's  flocks  fed, 
and  I  have  seen  the  real  descendants  of  those 
same  flocks,  still  feeding  in  these  same  valleys. 


We  have  passed  a  good  many  towns  perched  on 
hilltops,  and  they  always  look  better  from  a  dis- 
tance. Sunday  night's  camp  was  at  Hawara,  where 
we  had  a  fine  prospect  from  our  tent  doors.  Yes- 
terday we  stopped  on  our  way  to  Shechem  to  see 
Jacob's  Well,  where  Christ  conversed  with  the 
woman  of  Samaria.  We  descended  quite  a  long 
flight  of  stairs  and  found  the  well  in  a  small 
stone  building.  It  is  seventy  feet  deep,  the  stone 
curb  looks  ancient,  and  the  water  is  very  sweet 
and  good.  They  say  that  this  well  is  really 
authentic,  and  that  it  is  the  only  place  in  Pales- 
tine where  one  can  draw  a  circle  inclosing  twenty 
feet,  and  be  sure  that  Christ  ever  stepped  within 
that  circle. 

A  short  ride  from  Jacob's  Well  brought  us  to 
the  old  town  of  Shechem.  It  is  a  very  quaint 
old  place,  with  arched  streets  and  bazaars  and 
an  old  mosque.  We  went  into  the  old  Samari- 
tan Church,  and  saw  the  parchment  copy  of  the 
Pentateuch.  The  country  around  Shechem  is 
very  pretty,  and  has  eighty  springs.  We  stopped 
for  lunch  a  little  beyond  Shechem,  near  an  old 
flour  mill,  and  had  a  nice  lunch  and  rest.  In 
the  afternoon  we  made  Samaria  by  many  ups  and 
downs  and  twists  and  turns.  We  camped  on 
the  hill  above  what  is  left  of  the  town,  and 
among  the  ruins  of  what  was  once  Herod's  palace. 
Many  stone  and  granite  pillars  are  still  standing, 
but  they  are  all  that  remain  of  what  was  once  a 
magnificent  palace,  with  beautiful  grounds.  Some 
of  us  climbed  the  western  hill  for  the  sunset,  and 


were  rewarded  in  another  way  as  well,  for  our 
trouble.  The  hill  stands  in  the  centre  of  the  val- 
ley, and  commands  a  view  of  valley  and  moun- 
tains on  all  sides.  It  was  indeed  a  splendid  situa- 
tion for  a  palace.  This  morning  we  were  off  at 
8.30  and  first  made  a  circuit  of  the  hill,  to  see 
how  fine  it  must  have  been  at  one  time.  Then 
we  descended  by  a  rocky,  slippery  path,  and  as 
soon  as  we  were  down,  commenced  going  up 
again.  We  kept  that  up  all  day,  excepting  when 
we  were  on  the  plain,  and  then  the  mud  was  so 
deep  that  we  were  afraid  of  being  mired.  There 
has  been  so  much  rain  here  this  spring  that  the 
level  roads  are  very  bad.  We  generally  get  up  at 
6.30  and  leave  for  new  pastures  about  8.30,  but 
to-morrow  will  be  a  hard  day,  and  as  we  want  to 
get  to  Nazareth  early  enough  to  see  the  sights 
before  dark,  we  have  asked  Louis  to  call  us  at  5.30, 
so  we  can  get  off  by  7.30.  You  see  it  takes 
time  to  break  up  camp,  and  while  we  are  at  break- 
fast Louis  and  his  men  are  hard  at  work,  getting 
the  tents  rolled  up,  the  beds  packed  away,  and  the 
packages  put  on  the  pack  mules.  We  have  nine- 
teen men  and  forty-one  animals  in  our  caravan ; 
then  Louis  and  Michael  and  nine  women.  Our 
horses  are  very  good  indeed.  They  are  not  re- 
markable for  good  looks,  but  for  use.  They  are 
generally  good  walkers,  and  sure  footed,  and  that 
is  more  necessary  than  speed  on  a  trip  of  this 
kind.  Still,  they  can  travel  very  well  indeed  when 
the  roads  are  suitable.  It  is  about  ten  o'clock  and 
my  candle  is  almost  burned  out,  so  I  will  have 


to  close  my  letter.  It  will  be  mailed  to-morrow 
evening  at  Nazareth.  We  do  not  have  many 
more  chances  for  mailing  letters  until  we  reach 
Damascus  about  the  I2th  or  ijth.  Our  arrival 
there  will  depend  upon  ourselves  and  how  we 
bear  the  journey.  If  any  one  should  be  sick,  we 
would  have  to  rest  a  day,  otherwise  we  expect  to 
push  on  every  day,  and  make  an  average  of 
eighteen  miles  a  day. 

Give  much  love  to  Will,  and  accept  a  great 
deal  for  your  dear  self.  Alice  and  Kate  send  love 
to  both  of  you.  Love  to  all  friends,  and  remem- 
brances to  the  girls. 

Your  loving  wife, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 


IN  CAMP  AT  NAZARETH, 

April  6,  1893. 
MY  DEAR  WILL  : 

I  wonder  how  it  would  seem  to  get  some  let- 
ters from  home.  We  have  had  nothing  since 
leaving  Cairo,  on  the  i8th  of  March,  and  cannot 
get  anything  until  the  I2th  or  ijth  at  Damascus, 
and  perhaps  not  then.  I  wrote  your  father  on 
Tuesday  night  from  Jenin,  but  it  will  be  mailed 
at  the  same  time  as  this.  There  may  not  be  an- 
other chance  for  mailing  letters  until  we  reach 
Damascus,  so  I  concluded  to  send  you  a  line  tell- 
ing of  our  thrilling  experience  and  hairbreadth 
escapes  yesterday.  We  got  started,  with  the  whole 
caravan  in  front  of  us,  at  7.45.  We  first  crossed 
the  Plain  of  Jezreel,  which  is  rather  soft,  but  not 


(    216    ) 

so  bad  as  we  had  feared  it  would  be.  This  is  the 
plain  where  so  many  battles  with  the  Philistines 
were  fought,  about  which  you  used  to  be  so  fond 
of  hearing.  Then  we  came  to  the  town  of  Jez- 
reel,  where  Ahab  had  his  ivory  house,  and  where 
he  and  his  wife  Jezebel  met  such  a  terrible 
although  deserved  fate.  The  poverty-stricken 
stone  huts  of  the  town  had  nothing  about  them 
to  remind  one  of  ivory  palaces.  After  that  our 
troubles  began,  as  the  next  plain  was  full  of  bogs 
and  marshy  places,  owing  to  the  recent  heavy 
rains.  One  by  one  the  pack  mules  sank  in  the 
mud  under  their  burdens,  and  were  unable  to  rise 
until  the  load  was  taken  off.  As  the  presence  of 
Louis  was  needed  all  the  time,  of  course  we  had 
to  wait  until  all  the  train  was  safely  over  the  bad 
place,  before  we  attempted  it  ourselves,  and  once 
or  twice  some  of  us  came  near  being  mired.  Miss 
Merriam's  horse  went  in  almost  up  to  his  tail, 
and  Elizabeth  sat  calmly  on  his  back  and  said, 
"  Michael,  do  you  think  I  had  better  get  off?  " 
but  she  did  not  have  to,  for  Michael  pulled  her 
out  all  right.  A  few  days  ago,  while  we  were 
standing  still  on  horseback,  Kate's  horse  calmly 
sat  down,  with  the  intention  of  rolling,  and  Kate 
stepped  off.  We  all  laughed  a  great  deal  at  her, 
but  yesterday  Mrs.  Aiken's  horse  did  the  same 
thing.  I  wonder  if  horses  could  n't  be  taught,  as 
camels  are,  to  lie  down  for  ladies  to  mount  and 
dismount.  It  would  save  Louis  a  good  deal  of 
trouble,  as  he  insists  on  our  mounting  from  the 
ground  and  having  some  style  about  us.  Well, 


we  kept  on  going  up  rocky  hills,  then  down  again 
into  the  valley,  and  across  the  muddy  plains. 
When  we  stopped  for  lunch  the  train  went  on, 
and  after  an  hour  or  two  we  found  it  stranded  on 
the  Plain  of  Nazareth.  Louis  went  to  the  rescue, 
and  soon  had  it  all  following  us,  towards  the  hill 
of  Nazareth.  In  spite  of  bogs  and  ditches  and 
hills,  we  quite  enjoyed  the  day,  for  the  scenery 
was  beautiful,  and  the  wild  flowers  gorgeous  and 
abundant.  The  air  was  very  pleasant,  too,  for  it 
was  neither  hot  nor  cold  most  of  the  time,  and 
if  there  was  an  occasional  shower  we  were  so  well 
protected  that  we  did  not  mind  it.  We  reached 
the  edge  of  the  town  and  came  in  finely  on  a 
level,  smooth  road.  We  learned  that  Gaze's 
party,  which  left  Jerusalem  four  days  before  we 
did,  had  a  terrible  time,  and  only  reached  Naza- 
reth twenty-four  hours  before  we  did,  and  then 
without  their  baggage,  which  did  not  arrive  until 
late  that  night,  so  the  people  had  to  put  up  at 
the  wretched  little  hotels.  They  left  yesterday 
morning,  and  we  are  quite  anxious  about  our 
friend  Mr.  Harger,  who  is  not  a  strong  man  and 
will  perhaps  suffer  a  good  deal.  On  such  a  trip 
as  this  a  private  party  is  so  much  better  than  one 
of  Cook's  or  Gaze's  !  Louis  takes  such  good  care 
of  his  nine  ladies  !  We  are  having  delightful  times 
together,  and  are  enjoying  the  traveling  very 
much,  in  spite  of  these  little  side  shows  on  ac- 
count of  the  bad  weather.  To-day  is  lovely  and 
warm.  This  afternoon  we  have  been  out  in  the 
town,  seeing  the  Church  of  the  Annunciation, 


(    218    ) 

into  which  a  portion  of  the  Virgin's  house  is  in- 
serted ;  have  seen  the  place  where  Joseph's  car- 
penter shop  was  located,  and  have  tasted  the 
water  from  the  Virgin's  Well.  The  town  is  finely 
situated  on  the  hills,  and  has  quite  a  modern  air 
about  it  from  a  distance.  However,  it  has  the 
same  narrow  streets  as  all  the  other  Palestine 
towns,  and  perhaps  more  than  its  proportion  of 
the  dirt. 

I  have  just  been  to  the  saloon  tent,  where  we 
have  had  afternoon  tea,  and  Louis  is  engaged  in 
preparing  walnuts  for  the  candy  Miss  Coe  is  to 
make  this  evening.  In  a  little  while,  when  the 
sun  gets  lower,  we  are  going  to  climb  the  hill  to 
see  the  sunset,  and  to  see  the  most  extended  view 
in  Palestine.  We  expect  to  leave  to-morrow 
morning,  en  route  for  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  We 
have  just  been  buying  whips  for  the  third  time. 
It  speaks  badly,  either  for  the  quality  of  the  whips 
we  have  used  up,  or  for  our  cruelty  to  animals. 
As  the  whips  only  cost  two  cents  each,  I  prefer 
to  think  the  former  is  the  true  state  of  the  case. 
When  we  get  to  Damascus  we  are  to  have  a  pic- 
ture taken  of  our  caravan.  Some  one  proposed 
we  should  have  two  negatives,  one  in  our  storm 
dress  and  one  in  our  fair  weather  costume.  It 
would  certainly  tell  a  story  of  the  weather  in  Pal- 
estine which  would  not  be  encouraging  to  future 
travelers,  if  we  had  one  taken  in  the  dress  we 
have  used  most  of  the  time  during  the  eleven 
days  we  have  lived  in  the  saddle. 

I  am  thinking  of  you  now  as  either  in  Cali- 


(  219  ) 

fornia  or  back  in  St.  Louis.  I  hope  the  rest  and 
change  have  done  both  you  and  your  father  a 
great  deal  of  good.  I  was  so  glad  to  hear  that 
your  father  had  engaged  his  passage  for  Liver- 
pool in  June,  and  hope  nothing  will  prevent  his 
coming  over.  How  you  would  enjoy  this  camp 
life,  especially  as  everything  is  so  comfortable 
that  one  need  not  take  cold  from  exposure,  and 
the  food  is  so  good!  We  certainly  have  a  treasure 
in  our  cook.  He  is  a  black  fellow,  but  dresses  in 
white,  and  rides  a  white  horse  on  the  road.  He 
always  takes  the  lead  of  the  caravan.  How  he 
manages  to  get  up  such  splendid  meals  with  all 
this  moving  about  and  few  conveniences,  is  a  mys- 
tery to  all  of  us ;  however,  we  enjoy  the  good 
things  just  the  same  as  if  we  knew  all  the  ins  and 
outs,  and  perhaps  better.  The  time  has  come  to 
end  my  letter  and  start  for  the  top  of  the  hill. 
Mrs.  Fisher  is  not  going ;  her  forte  is  riding  horse- 
back and  not  walking.  Could  you  imagine  her 
doing  her  eighteen  or  twenty  miles  a  day  on 
horseback,  up  and  down  these  steep  and  rocky 
hills,  and  living  to  tell  the  tale  ?  We  tell  her  that 
at  last  she  has  found  her  vocation.  Love  to  your 
father  and  to  your  dear  self,  and  I  wish  I  could 
see  you  both  for  a  little  while  this  afternoon. 
Your  loving  mother, 

LIZZIE  McMiLLAN, 


(    22O    ) 

IN  CAMP  AT  DAMASCUS, 
THE  PEARL  OF  THE  EAST,  April  13,  1893. 

MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

I  wrote  you  on  the  4th  from  Jenin,  and  Will 
from  Nazareth  on  the  6th,  since  which  time  there 
has  been  no  chance  for  writing,  and  no  opportu- 
nity for  mailing  letters  if  they  had  been  written. 
Since  leaving  Nazareth  we  have  had  fine  weather, 
and  have  enjoyed  our  traveling  very  much.  One 
day's  journey  from  Nazareth  brought  us  to  Ti- 
berias, on  the  shore  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  This 
is  really  the  town  of  Galilee  of  New  Testament 
fame.  That  day  we  paused  at  Cana,  long  enough 
to  see  the  wine  jars  in  which  they  used  to  press 
the  wine,  and  to  talk  over  the  miracle  of  the  water 
being  turned  into  wine.  Cana  is  a  small  town, 
rather  more  dirty  and  dilapidated  than  the  aver- 
age town,  so  we  did  not  linger  long.  It  is  said  that 
Jonah  was  born  near  there.  We  lunched  on  a 
grassy  slope  just  opposite  to  that  one  upon  which 
Christ  fed  the  multitude,  and  when  the  afternoon 
sun  was  casting  long  shadows  on  the  hills  and 
across  the  plains,  we  arrived  in  sight  of  the  sea 
and  the  town  close  down  by  the  water.  We  en- 
tered the  old  gate  and  rode  through  the  streets, 
which  we  were  astonished  to  find  very  clean, 
although  narrow.  The  people  also  were  clean 
and  pleasant  looking,  and  seemed  to  be  much 
interested  in  the  party  of  women  who  were  pass- 
ing through  their  streets,  for  they  appeared  by 
twos  and  threes  in  every  doorway  and  passage, 
and  smiled  upon  us.  The  population  of  Tiberias 


(    221    ) 

is  about  6000,  mostly  Jews.  We  had  a  lively 
canter  along  the  shore  of  the  sea,  before  going  to 
our  tents,  in  order  to  see  the  hot  sulphur  baths 
of  Tiberias.  It  was  a  very  pleasant  change,  after 
being  obliged  to  ride  so  slowly,  and  we  all  en- 
joyed it.  Next  morning  we  had  another  diversion 
in  our  mode  of  travel.  We  had  a  large  sail  boat 
and  made  our  trip  to  Capernaum  and  Bethsaida 
by  water.  The  Sea  of  Galilee  is  a  beautiful  sheet 
of  water,  quite  a  sea,  in  fact,  and  with  our  Bibles 
and  guide  books  we  had  a  lesson  on  the  miracles 
and  teachings  of  Christ,  in  that  vicinity.  We 
landed  at  Capernaum,  which  is  now  the  most 
desolate  spot  any  one  can  imagine,  with  only  a 
few  bits  of  carved  stone  left  to  tell  the  story  of 
the  city  and  the  great  synagogue  which  once  stood 
there.  Coming  back  in  the  direction  of  Tiberias, 
we  hugged  the  shore,  and  in  half  an  hour  were  at 
Bethsaida.  A  colony  of  German  priests  live  in 
that  spot  now,  and  they  expect  to  christianize 
this  whole  country  preparatory  to  the  coming  of 
Christ.  We  lunched  at  Bethsaida,  at  least  on  the 
spot  where  they  tell  us  it  used  to  stand,  and 
picked  up  pebbles  and  shells  on  the  pretty  little 
beach,  and  then  rowed  a  little  further  in  the  di- 
rection of  Tiberias  to  the  place  where  our  camp 
was  to  be  that  night.  Ain-et-Tineh  is  the  name, 
but  I  doubt  if  you  can  pronounce  it.  Just  before 
sunset  we  climbed  a  high  hill  behind  us  to  get 
the  view  of  the  sea  and  surrounding  country. 
The  sea  is  encompassed  by  ranges  of  hills,  and 
from  the  top  of  this  high  place  we  had  a  splendid 
view  of  hills,  valleys,  and  sea. 


(    222    ) 

On  the  9th  we  were  off  at  8.15,  which  meant 
getting  up  at  6.30,  and  had  some  very  rough 
and  slippery  climbing  for  a  couple  of  hours.  We 
passed  the  village  which  Rothschild  built  for  the 
Jews,  and  found  that  part  of  the  country  well  cul- 
tivated and  more  thrifty  looking  than  almost  any 
part  of  Palestine.  The  waters  of  Merom  appeared 
soon  after,  and  then  the  snowy  crest  of  Mount 
Hermon  came  in  sight,  and  has  been  with  us 
until  yesterday  afternoon.  It  is  a  whole  range  of 
mountains,  and  the  highest  point  is  always  snow- 
covered.  We  had  a  long  hard  day,  as  the  road 
was  either  hilly  or  rocky,  or  boggy  when  we  de- 
scended to  the  plain.  We  rode  twenty-two  miles 
that  day,  and  were  glad  to  get  to  camp  and  have 
a  nice  hot  dinner.  On  the  loth  we  broke  camp  and 
started  at  7.45,  knowing  that  the  road  would  be 
bad  and  our  progress  would  be  very  slow.  We 
passed  the  source  of  the  Jordan  and  the  ancient  site 
of  Dan  during  the  morning,  and  lunched  at  Ba- 
nias,  or  Caesarea  Philippi,  a  very  picturesque  spot, 
with  the  ruins  of  a  great  castle  on  a  spur  of  the 
mountain.  On  the  Plains  of  Hermon  are  many 
Bedouin  farmers  who  live  in  tents  and  have 
quite  large  settlements  of  these  dingy,  blackened 
abodes,  which  reminded  one  very  much  of  the 
Mexican  huts  at  Eddy.  Banias  is  quite  a  small 
town,  but  has  a  fine  situation,  a  splendid  cataract, 
and  the  old  Roman  gate  which  once  gave  entrance 
to  the  noted  city  of  Caesarea  Philippi.  That  night 
we  camped  at  Mejdel-esh-Shems,  on  Mount  Her- 
mon, over  three  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of 


the  sea,  and  we  found  it  very  cold.  It  needed 
all  our  bedding  and  extra  covering  to  make 
us  comfortable,  but  it  was  a  healthy  air,  clear 
and  bracing,  and  did  us  good.  The  town  is  built 
against  the  cliffs,  and  the  houses  have  no  back 
yards,  so  that  it  looked  like  a  colony  of  swallows' 
nests  in  a  hillside,  but  everything  was  quite 
neat  and  clean  as  far  as  we  could  see.  We  were 
nearly  nine  hours  in  the  saddle  that  day,  and  yet 
everybody  came  into  camp  fresh  and  happy. 
Tuesday  we  were  on  the  mountain  all  day,  and 
were  often  above  the  snow.  The  sun  was  warm 
but  the  air  was  crisp,  and  we  felt  it  was  a  joy  to 
be  alive.  Our  camp  was  at  Kefr  Hanwar  that 
night,  on  Nimrod's  old  hunting  grounds.  His 
tomb  is  shown  there,  but  any  pile  of  loose  stones 
would  do  as  well.  When  we  mentioned  the  fact 
to  Louis,  that  the  tomb  was  not  worth  looking 
at,  he  said :  "  Well,  it  is  my  duty  to  show  it  to 
you,  and  if  I  did  not,  and  you  read  about  Nim- 
rod's tomb,  you  would  think  you  had  missed 
something."  In  which  remark  he  was  just  about 
right.  Yesterday  was  a  perfect  day  and  we  had  a 
good  road,  so  that  our  entrance  into  Damascus 
was  a  triumphal  affair.  You  ought  to  see  Alice 
ride.  She  really  enjoys  it  very  much,  and  bears 
all  the  fatigue  quite  as  well  as  the  youngest 
among  us.  We  had  many  a  lively  canter  yes- 
terday, and  had  any  amount  of  fun  on  the  way. 
After  lunch  we  all  settled  ourselves  in  the  lunch 
tent  as  usual  for  a  nap,  and  there  was  actually 
some  snoring,  but  not  among  the  ladies.  It  was 


(    224    ) 

Louis.  He  does  not  sleep  very  much  at  night, 
because  of  the  care  and  responsibility  attending 
the  safety  of  his  lovely  party,  as  he  calls  us.  A 
dozen  times  or  more  he  goes  around  the  camp  at 
night,  to  see  that  his  guard  are  doing  their  duty 
and  that  all  is  well.  On  a  windy  night  we  often 
hear  them  pounding  in  the  tent  pins,  which  have 
become  loosened  by  the  constant  tugging  of  the 
ropes,  as  the  tent  is  swayed  by  the  wind.  We  saw 
the  city  of  Damascus  for  two  hours  before  we 
reached  it,  and  when  we  reached  the  outskirts  and 
came  along  the  walled  lanes,  with  arches  of  foli- 
age overhead,  we  were  perfectly  charmed.  Great 
groves  of  olive  and  apricot  trees  surround  the 
city,  and  a  swift  river  flows  by  the  side  of  it.  We 
are  just  outside  the  city,  but  quite  near  to  most 
of  the  objects  of  interest,  and  not  ten  minutes' 
walk  from  the  bank.  We  fully  expected  to  get 
letters  here,  but  were  much  disappointed,  as  there 
were  none.  On  leaving  Cairo  we  arranged  for  the 
next  mail  to  be  sent  to  Jerusalem.  Owing  to 
the  Easter  vacation  the  banks  were  closed,  so  we 
left  word  for  our  mail  to  be  sent  here,  and  now 
we  must  wait  for  another  week  until  we  reach 
Beirut.  I  have  not  heard  from  you  since  March 
1 5th. 

We  left  Jerusalem  the  morning  of  the  ist  of 
April,  and  since  that  time  have  been  ten  days  in 
the  saddle.  To  say  that  we  are  brown  would  be 
superfluous,  but  we  are  all  perfectly  well,  and 
have  enjoyed  our  journey  through  Palestine  very, 
very  much.  We  will  be  in  Damascus  three  whole 


days,  sight-seeing  and  shopping,  then  five  days 
on  horseback  will  bring  us  to  Beirut.  The  tra- 
vel from  now  on  will  be  comparatively  easy,  as 
the  roads  are  much  better  at  this  end  of  the 
route.  I  got  up  at  six  this  morning  to  write  this 
letter,  for  I  was  too  tired  last  night  to  put  my 
mind  on  anything  but  minor  matters.  We  are 
afraid  that  the  Gaze  party  and  our  friends  the 
Harjers  have  gone  on,  but  we  will  hope  to  find 
them  in  Beirut.  Our  camping  ground  is  near 
the  river,  and  under  the  shade  of  trees,  and  is 
most  pleasantly  located. 

Louis  has  just  been  around  collecting  our 
Turkish  passports,  and  the  next  thing  I  hope  to 
hear  will  be  the  call  to  breakfast.  It  is  a  lovely 
morning  and  we  anticipate  a  delightful  day  in  the 
city.  I  dare  say  you  are  having  lovely  weather  at 
home  now,  and  suppose  the  house  is  making 
rapid  strides  towards  completion.  Much  love  to 
Will  and  yourself,  dear,  also  to  all  the  friends.  I 
hope  my  boys  are  both  real  well.  The  Fishers 
send  love. 

Your  loving  wife, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

IN  CAMP  AT  DAMASCUS, 

April  15,  1893. 
MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

Since  writing  you  on  the  I3th  we  have  been 
enjoying  the  oriental  sights  of  Damascus,  and 
have  been  quite  fascinated  with  what  we  have 
seen.  Besides  ourselves,  there  seems  to  be  scarcely 


(    226    ) 

a  European  or  an  American  in  the  place,  and  the 
people  regard  us  with  as  much,  or  even  more 
curiosity,  than  we  do  them.  As  we  wander  about 
the  bazaars  they  stop  to  stare  and  laugh  at  us,  and 
the  women  come  up  and  feel  our  clothes  and 
chatter  about  us  among  themselves.  It  is  very 
amusing  to  us  to  find  that  we  attract  so  much 
attention,  but  we  never  stray  far  from  Louis  and 
Michael,  for  we  feel  much  safer  when  they  are 
near. 

On  Thursday  we  visited  the  bazaars  both  morn- 
ing and  afternoon.  Here  they  are  nearly  all  under 
cover,  and  some  of  them  are  wide  and  some 
narrow,  and  all  of  them  are  very  curious  and 
picturesque.  We  see  many  Eastern  nations  repre- 
sented here,  and  the  costumes  are  oriental,  with 
gay  colors  and  odd  shapes.  Damascus  has  1 80,000 
people,  so  you  can  see  it  is  quite  a  large  city. 
The  architecture  is  quaint  and  some  of  the  houses 
are  colored  in  designs,  which  reminds  us  of  the 
mosques  of  Moscow.  The  two  rivers,  the  Abana 
and  Pharpar,  flow  through  the  city,  as  in  the  days 
when  Naaman  was  told  to  wash  in  the  Jordan,  and 
could  not  see  why  the  rivers  of  Damascus  were 
not  as  good  as  this  one ;  the  city  is  surrounded  by 
gardens  and  orchards,  so  much  so  that  the  view  is 
very  much  cut  off,  excepting  from  a  higher  level. 
When  we  leave  here  to-morrow  we  climb  to  quite 
a  height  on  our  way,  and  look  down  upon  the 
city.  Yesterday  afternoon  we  drove  wherever 
the  streets  were  wide  enough  to  admit  carriages. 
We  visited  the  house  of  Ananias,  where  Saul  was 


(  227  ) 

told  to  stay  until  recovered  from  his  blindness, 
and  we  drove  through  the  street  called  Straight. 
It  is  an  arched  thoroughfare,  dimly  lighted  by 
windows  just  under  the  oval  of  the  arch,  and 
looks  like  a  large  tunnel,  but  is  a  mass  of  bazaars 
for  all  kinds  of  merchandise.  It  was  a  wonderful 
oriental  scene,  and  the  street  is  about  three 
quarters  of  a  mile  long.  It  was  very  warm  nearly 
all  day,  but  became  cloudy  in  the  afternoon,  and 
the  wind  came  up  with  every  indication  of  a 
heavy  rainstorm,  but  the  air  became  cool  and 
delicious,  and  there  was  no  rain  after  all.  To-day 
is  not  quite  so  warm,  although  it  is  summer 
weather,  and  we  are  glad  to  have  both  the  front 
and  back  doors  of  our  tents  open.  We  had  our 
photos  taken  yesterday,  on  horseback,  and  in  a 
group,  some  of  us  sitting  and  some  standing,  and 
then  one  in  our  stormy  day  attire,  much  to  Louis's 
disgust.  He  could  not  see  the  joke  in  it  at  all, 
and  said  he  did  not  want  to  see  us  in  a  picture 
looking  like  mummies.  This  morning  we  went 
to  see  the  Great  Mosque  of  Damascus.  It  is 
quite  similar  to  one  in  Jerusalem,  but  perhaps 
handsomer  in  some  respects.  We  all  went  to  the 
top  of  the  tallest  minaret  for  the  view,  which  was 
fine,  as  the  mosque  is  almost  in  the  centre  of  the 
city.  They  sometimes  call  this  city  a  pearl  set  in 
emeralds,  because  of  the  border  of  shrubbery  and 
gardens  all  around  it,  and  we  saw  the  force  of  the 
simile  in  looking  at  it  from  the  minaret  this 
morning.  This  afternoon  we  are  going  to  drive 
again,  to  visit  some  native  houses,  the  barracks, 


(    228    ) 

and  the  house  of  Naaman,  which  is  a  leper  hos- 
pital. Our  three  days  in  Damascus  have  been 
most  delightful,  but  three  days  are  as  long  as  we 
need,  and  to-morrow  we.  start  on  a  five  days' 
ride  to  Beirut.  Our  journey  through  Palestine 
will  occupy  thirty-two  days,  and  out  of  those 
thirty-two  days  twenty  will  have  been  spent  on 
horseback.  We  are  more  than  ever  impressed 
with  Louis's  business  ability,  and  resources  under 
difficult  circumstances.  It  needs  a  man  with 
plenty  of  brain  and  pluck,  to  say  nothing  of  good 
common  sense,  to  conduct  parties  through  this 
country,  and  he  has  been  more  than  equal  to 
every  occasion.  No  amount  of  trouble  but  he 
takes  it  for  our  comfort  and  pleasure,  and  he 
must  have  felt  the  responsibility  very  great,  some- 
times, with  no  other  man  to  consult  as  to  the 
best  thing  to  be  done.  I  would  like  very  much 
for  you  to  meet  him,  for  he  is  a  true  gentleman 
and  a  splendid  man. 

Now  I  must  close,  because  the  carriages  have 
come  and  we  must  go,  and  I  will  have  no  more 
time  for  writing  before  we  leave  Damascus.  We 
are  to  have  some  company  this  evening,  a  cler- 
gyman and  his  wife  who  are  camping  near  us. 
They  are  English  and  very  pleasant  people. 
Much  love  to  both  of  my  boys,  and  all  friends. 
Your  loving  wife, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 


(  229  ) 

NEW  HOTEL,  BEIRUT,  SYRIA, 
April  21,  1893. 

MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

I  seem  to  feel  much  nearer  to  you  now  than  I 
have  for  the  past  five  weeks,  since  receiving  seven 
letters  from  you  and  three  from  Will  on  our  arrival 
here  yesterday  afternoon.  Their  dates  ran  from 
February  21  up  to  March  21,  so  you  see  I  have 
news  of  you  up  to  a  month  ago,  exactly.  Long 
e'er  this  you  have  our  directions  to  send  mail 
to  Marquay  &  Hooker,  Florence,  and  will  know 
what  we  are  expecting  to  do.  It  was  almost  im- 
possible to  give  you  our  plans  for  more  than  a 
month  ahead,  because  we  did  not  know  certainly 
what  we  should  do  ourselves.  It  depended  a 
good  deal  on  what  we  should  hear  from  you,  and 
also  on  the  cholera  question.  Now  we  expect  to 
spend  a  week  here,  then  go  to  Naples,  and  per- 
haps spend  a  week  at  Castellamare,  or  Ischia, 
then  go  to  Florence  for  a  few  weeks,  and  after 
that  to  Paris  or  London,  or  both,  and  be  ready 
with  Gertrude  and  Lucie  to  meet  you  on  your 
arrival  the  latter  part  of  June. 

Now  I  must  go  back  to  the  time  we  left  Da- 
mascus, and  give  you  an  account  of  our  last  five 
days  on  horseback.  After  three  delightful  days 
in  Damascus,  we  broke  camp  on  the  morning  of 
the  1 6th,  and  at  8.30  were  climbing  a  high  hill 
to  get  the  last  and  finest  view  of  the  city,  before 
turning  our  backs  upon  it,  perhaps  forever.  The 
top  of  the  hill  reached,  —  and  the  horses  made  a 
lively  scramble  to  get  up  the  steep  place,  —  there 


was  the  Pearl  of  the  East  nestled  down,  spoon 
shape,  in  the  midst  of  a  forest  of  living  green.  It 
was  a  most  beautiful  sight,  for  the  background  to 
all  was  range  after  range  of  mountain  peaks,  some 
of  them  snow-capped.  We  climbed  among  the 
mountains  all  the  morning,  and  reached  the  Abana 
river  about  eleven  o'clock,  keeping  near  that 
dashing,  rapid  stream  nearly  all  day.  The  scenery 
was  very  wild  and  rugged,  and  the  path  corre- 
sponded to  it  very  well  indeed.  We  lunched  that 
day  in  the  wildest  and  most  picturesque  spot  im- 
aginable, by  the  side  of  the  roaring  river,  where 
there  was  a  tiny  village  clinging  to  the  cliffs  and 
quite  shut  in  by  high  hills.  After  lunch  we  skirted 
a  deep  gorge,  where  the  hillsides  were  1000  feet 
high,  and  a  narrow  fertile  valley  lay  at  the  bottom 
of  the  gorge,  with  the  river,  like  a  silver  thread, 
between  the  two  lines  of  green.  If  you  could 
have  seen  us>  high  up  on  the  hillside,  creeping 
carefully  along  the  narrow  path,  where  a  mis- 
step of  a  horse  meant  disaster,  you  would  have 
thought  that  headers  from  donkeys  on  a  level 
plain  were  very  innocent  affairs  compared  with 
this  kind  of  traveling.  That  night  we  camped 
at  Barada,  which  is  the  modern  name  of  the 
Pharpar  River.  I  do  not  know  whether  the 
Abana  and  the  Barada  rivers  are  named  for  the 
towns,  or  if  the  towns  are  named  for  the  rivers, 
but  the  towns  certainly  look  ancient  enou'gh  to 
have  been  named  many  centuries  ago.  Louis 
says  that  on  some  of  those  long  days  before  we 
got  to  Damascus,  we  rode  from  twenty-five  to 


thirty  miles  a  day,  as  we  had  to  go  a  good  deal 
out  of  our  way  in  order  to  avoid  the  boggy 
plains.  This  has  been  an  unusual  year  for  storms 
and  bad  roads  in  Palestine,  and  I  will  tell  you 
now  that  we  are  the  only  party  which  has  come 
across  the  country  and  has  escaped  without  acci- 
dents more  or  less  serious.  None  of  Cook's  and 
Gaze's  parties  but  have  been  delayed  on  the  road, 
or  have  failed  to  connect  with  their  outfit,  during 
the  journey,  and  some  of  them  have  had  terrible 
times,  and  have  almost  lost  their  lives.  Thanks 
to  Louis's  able  management  and  sound  common 
sense,  we  have  escaped  all  perils  which  threatened, 
and  are  here,  safe  and  well,  and  with  all  our  be- 
longings. His  energy  is  most  wonderful,  and  he 
inspires  all  his  men,  so  that  when  he  is  there 
everything  goes  ahead  swimmingly. 

The  second  morning  we  got  off  at  eight  o'clock, 
as  it  looked  like  rain,  and  Louis  was  anxious  to 
get  us  over  a  certain  part  of  the  mountain,  where 
sudden  snowstorms  were  frequent  and  dangerous, 
as  soon  as  possible.  We  rode  up  hill  and  down 
hill  as  fast  as  we  could,  with  his  voice  urging  us 
to  "  hurry,  ladies,"  in  Arabic,  and  his  cane  as- 
sisting our  horses  from  the  rear,  when  necessary. 
It  was  bitterly  cold,  and  we  felt  very  miserable 
sometimes,  but  realizing  that  he  knew  what  was 
best  for  us,  we  did  just  as  he  said,  and  at  noon 
reached  a  place  where  all  danger  from  a  snow- 
storm was  over,  and  we  could  take  a  needed  rest 
and  have  lunch  in  peace  and  comfort.  Louis  was 
much  happier  when  this  mountain  was  left  be- 


hind,  and  sang  his  Arabic  songs  as  he  rode  on  his 
coal-black  charger,  all  the  rest  of  the  day.  That 
night  it  was  very  cold  in  camp,  as  we  were  sur- 
rounded by  snow  mountains,  but  braziers  in  the 
tents  made  us  very  comfortable  and  I  never  slept 
better  in  my  life.  The  scenery  all  that  day  was 
wonderfully  grand  and  beautiful,  and  we  had  the 
Mount  Lebanon  range,  with  its  white  crest,  in  full 
view.  The  third  day  was  easier  and  warmer,  but 
as  we  wanted  to  gain  enough  time  to  see  the  grand 
ruins  of  the  Baalbec  Temples,  and  still  reach 
Beirut  on  Thursday,  we  rose  earlier  than  usual 
and  were  in  our  saddles  at  7.30.  We  climbed  the 
Anti-Lebanon  mountains  first  and  then  rode  over 
the  range,  and  had  an  easy  morning,  at  the  same 
time  getting  over  the  ground  quite  fast.  We 
reached  Baalbec  at  11.30  and  had  our  lunch  in- 
side the  ruins.  In  fact,  we  spent  the  whole  after- 
noon there,  seeing  the  wonderful  old  ruins.  This 
temple  dates  back  to  about  200  years  after  the 
Christian  era,  and  it  was  built  on  the  site  of  a 
still  older  temple,  supposed  by  some  to  have 
been  the  Tower  of  Babel.  The  ruins  are  more 
perfect  than  many  we  have  seen,  and  have  a  great 
many  granite  columns  still  standing,  and  the  cor- 
nices still  show  much  fine  carving.  We  enjoyed 
wandering  around  here  very  much,  and  fortu- 
nately we  had  a  lovely  day  for  it.  Baalbec  is  a 
town  of  5000  inhabitants  and  is  3860  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea.  With  its  magnificent  ruins 
it  is  a  most  picturesque  spot,  and  the  Lebanon 
range,  with  its  crest  of  dazzling  snow,  gives  a 


grand  and  beautiful  setting  to  the  gray  piles  of 
stone  in  the  temple. 

On  leaving  Baalbec  we  had  a  smooth  car- 
riage road  all  the  rest  of  the  way,  and  came  along 
the  valley  between  the  Anti-Lebanon  and  the  Le- 
banon ranges,  whose  tops  are  white,  and  whose 
sides  are  a  mass  of  colors,  from  the  different 
colors  of  earth,  stone,  verdure,  and  wild  flowers. 
We  camped  high  up  on  the  hillside  that  night, 
and  the  wind  nearly  blew  my  tent  down  over  my 
head.  I  felt  a  very  strong  wind  on  my  head,  and 
getting  up  to  see  what  was  the  matter,  found  that 
some  of  the  tent  pins  had  given  way,  so  I  called 
for  assistance,  and  a  mysterious  figure  in  a  white 
turban  came  and  mended  my  house.  Yesterday 
morning,  our  last  day,  we  left  camp  in  the  rain, 
and  climbing  for  several  hours  were  actually  in 
the  clouds,  as  well  as  rain  and  sleet.  Oh,  it  was 
cold,  but  after  reaching  the  top  we  began  to  go 
down,  and  in  a  short  time  the  storm  was  all  be- 
hind us,  and  we  emerged  into  blue  skies  and 
sunshine,  with  Beirut  and  the  beautiful  Medi- 
terranean before  us.  After  lunch  our  road  was 
all  down  hill,  and  we  did  not  like  it,  —  thump, 
thump,  thump  on  the  hard  road,  until  we  wel- 
comed a  stony  by-path  with  delight.  Miss  Mer- 
riam  said  it  reminded  her  of  the  curse  of  answered 
prayers,  which,  when  they  come,  are  not  at  all 
satisfactory,  or  what  we  want,  after  all.  Here  we 
had  been  longing  for  weeks  for  a  smooth  road, 
and  now  that  we  had  it  we  were  not  pleased.  We 
came  into  Beirut  with  flying  colors,  literally,  for 


(234) 

at  luncheon  time  we  had  bedecked  our  horses 
with  all  their  giddy  trappings,  and  ribbons  be- 
sides, and  we  made  quite  a  fine  procession  as  we 
rode  through  the  streets.  Louis  had  written  to 
this  hotel  for  rooms  for  us,  so  we  were  very  soon 
settled,  but  Louis  would  not  leave  us  to  go  to 
his  family  until  our  luggage  had  arrived  and  had 
been  placed  in  our  rooms.  We  were  all  very 
tired  after  five  long  days  of  riding,  and  I  found 
it  impossible  to  write  last  night,  but  sent  the 
cablegram  "  abjure."  We  have  borne  the  trip 
wonderfully  well  and  are  all  quite  well,  but  thin- 
ner, for  the  time  being.  Our  trunks  are  just  com- 
ing. They  have  been  taken  care  of  in  Louis's 
own  house  all  these  weeks,  and  he  has  sent  them 
over  and  probably  is  not  far  off  himself.  Alice 
has  done  splendidly  on  the  journey ;  has  ridden 
with  ease  and  has  been  well  and  in  good  spirits 
all  the  time.  If  I  had  known  the  kind  of  roads 
we  were  to  have  in  Palestine,  I  would  have  ex- 
pected her  to  give  out  on  the  way ;  but  she  has 
stood  the  test  quite  as  well  as  any  of  us.  Mrs. 
Aiken  and  her  sister,  Miss  Dodge,  also  Miss 
Merriam,  leave  on  Sunday  for  Constantinople, 
and  the  other  three  girls  will  go  to  Italy  with 
us,  in  about  a  week  from  now,  or  when  the  next 
steamer  leaves.  It  is  balmy  here  and  the  sur- 
roundings are  beautiful.  Our  rooms  look  out 
upon  the  Mediterranean,  with  only  the  street 
between  us  and  the  water.  We  feel  that  it  would 
be  lovely  to  stay  here  a  month,  but  have  not  the 
time  to  spare.  Our  trip  through  the  Holy  Land 


(  235  ) 

has  been  a  grand  success,  and  we  have  had  a 
delightful  time  all  the  way  through,  in  spite  of 
bad  weather,  sometimes,  and  hard  roads.  I  rode 
the  same  horse  for  eighteen  days,  and  did  not 
make  his  back  sore.  Either  he  must  be  very 
tough,  or  I  am  a  good  rider.  Thirty-two  days 
since  we  reached  Jaffa,  and  twenty  of  them  have 
been  spent  in  the  saddle,  and  we  still  live  to  tell 
the  tale ! 

I  had  twenty-seven  letters  yesterday,  and  have 
so  much  news  in  one  dose  that  my  mind  can 
scarcely  retain  it  all.  Am  so  sorry  to  hear  of 
Mr.  Richardson's  death,  and  of  Bridget's  severe 
illness.  Hope  she  is  doing  well  now,  and  will 
write  her  as  soon  as  possible.  We  hear  from 
Dolly  that  Mrs.  Heywood  died  a  few  weeks 
ago. 

This  is  only  my  ninth  letter  this  month,  but 
it  has  been  almost  impossible  to  write  letters  on 
this  trip,  and  the  other  ladies  have  not  written 
half  as  many  as  I  have.  I  am  so  glad  you  had 
such  a  delightful  time  in  Eddy,  and  that  you  are 
so  well.  I  hope  the  change  did  Will  a  great 
deal  of  good  too.  Alice  and  Kate  send  much 
love  to  both  of  you.  I  will  close  this  letter  now, 
and  will  write  Will  to-morrow  and  continue  my 
story.  It  seems  as  if  I  had  failed  to  say  the 
most  important  things,  but  what  can  you  expect 
when  I  rose  at  six  o'clock  and  have  not  yet  had 
my  breakfast  ?  With  much  love, 
Your  affectionate  wife, 

LlZZIE  McMlLLAN. 


(  236  ) 

HOTEL  D' ORIENT,  BEIRUT 
April  23,  1893. 

MY  DEAR  WILL  : 

I  tried  to  write  to  you  last  night  but  was  too 
tired,  and  so  am  up  at  6.30  this  morning.  I 
find  it  easy  enough  to  rise  at  this  hour,  as  we  had 
very  early  hours  all  through  our  trip  across  Pal- 
estine and  Syria,  and  I  wake  at  the  usual  time 
still.  It  will  take  a  good  many  mornings  of  early 
rising  to  get  up  my  correspondence,  since  receiv- 
ing twenty-seven  letters  on  my  arrival  here  on 
Thursday. 

I  wrote  your  father  quite  a  long  letter  on  Fri- 
day morning  before  breakfast.  Directly  after- 
wards Louis  came  for  us  and  we  all  went  to  the 
bank  to  get  money  to  finish  paying  up  our  in- 
debtedness to  him.  It  almost  caused  a  cessation 
of  business  at  the  bank,  and  there  was  consterna- 
tion there  when  they  found  that  we  all  wanted 
our  money  in  French  gold.  They  sent  out  to 
buy  the  gold,  and  finally,  after  telling  us  we 
must  come  back  in  the  afternoon,  and  our  being 
quite  decided  about  having  our  money  then,  they 
managed  to  find  the  gold  for  us.  After  the  busi- 
ness with  Louis  and  Michael  was  settled,  then 
there  was  the  business  of  feeing  eighteen  men, 
who  were  our  muleteers,  waiters,  cook,  etc.,  on 
the  trip.  The  money  was  put  into  one  pile,  and 
Louis  arranged  the  distribution  of  it,  according 
to  their  merits  and  responsibility.  As  he  an- 
nounced the  amount  to  be  given  each  one,  Alice 
wrote  the  name  on  a  paper,  Louis  handed  the 


money  to  me,  and  I  wrapped  it  up.  Then  when 
all  this  was  arranged,  the  ladies  were  all  called 
and  we  went  downstairs  to  the  entrance  of  the 
courtyard,  where  all  the  men  were  assembled, 
and  as  Louis  called  the  names  the  men  came  up 
and  received  each  one  his  package,  from  either 
Alice  or  me.  Then  Louis  shook  hands  with  all 
his  men,  and  most  of  them  came  forward  to  shake 
hands  with  us.  It  was  quite  a  scene,  and  rather 
affecting,  too. 

Yesterday  morning  we  all  went  to  the  photo- 
grapher to  get  a  group  taken  in  our  good  clothes, 
and  they  seem  to  think  it  is  going  to  be  a  suc- 
cess. The  pictures  which  were  taken  in  Damascus 
have  arrived,  and  are  very  good  too. 

Yesterday  afternoon  we  took  a  drive  down  to 
the  Dog  River,  and  had  a  very  pleasant  time. 
Afterwards  Louis  took  us  to  call  on  his  family. 
He  has  a  wee  wife,  a  nice  old  mother,  a  charm- 
ing daughter  who  is  a  bride  of  about  five  months, 
and  a  handsome  son-in-law.  The  daughter  came 
to  greet  us,  dressed  in  her  wedding  dress,  white 
silk  trimmed  with  lace  and  orange  blossoms,  and 
wearing  diamonds.  They  were  very  lovely  to 
us,  treated  us  to  lemonade  and  Turkish  coffee, 
and  took  us  into  the  garden  and  gave  us  beau- 
tiful roses  and  other  flowers,  and  lemons.  The 
house  is  large  and  very  nicely  furnished.  I  ex- 
pected to  find  that  Louis  had  a  comfortable 
home,  but  did  not  think  that  everything  would 
be  so  rich  and  even  elegant.  To-day  we  are 
going  to  call  on  Michael's  family,  and  I  am  curi- 


ous  to  see  what  his  home  is  like.  Mrs.  Aiken, 
her  sister  Miss  Dodge,  and  Elizabeth  Merriam 
sail  to-day  for  Constantinople.  The  other  three 
girls  will  sail  on  Wednesday  for  Italy,  and  then 
America,  but  the  three  tramps  feel  that  Bei- 
rut is  too  charming  a  place  to  leave  so  soon, 
so  we  have  decided  to  remain  another  week  here, 
after  all  the  others  are  gone,  and  give  up  going 
to  Ischia,  going  on  the  principle  that  "  A  bird  in 
the  hand  is  worth  two  in  the  bush."  I  gave  your 
message  to  the  girls,  and  they  were  much  pleased, 
and  say  they  want  ever  so  much  to  meet  you, 
also  wish  to  be  cordially  remembered  to  you. 
Louis  said  yesterday  that  he  wished  to  send  his 
kindest  respects  to  Mr.  McMillan  and  Mr.  Will. 
He  says  he  would  like  so  much  to  go  hunting 
with  you,  and  that  he  hopes  in  two  years,  if  not 
before,  to  have  the  pleasure  of  taking  all  of  us 
up  the  Nile  in  a  dahabeah.  I  hope  so,  too,  for  I 
know  you  and  your  father  would  enjoy  it  very 
much.  Then  we  would  start  from  Cairo,  on  our 
return,  go  to  Jaffa  by  sail  and  steamer,  then  to 
Jerusalem  by  rail,  and  after  making  some  of  the 
carriage  and  horseback  trips  around  there  would 
return  to  Jaffa  and  sail  for  Beirut.  From  here 
we  would  take  diligence  to  Damascus,  and  after 
spending  a  few  days  there,  would  come  back, 
taking  in  Baalbek,  by  the  way,  and  after  that  we 
could  go  on  the  continent  for  the  summer. 
Does  n't  that  sound  attractive  ? 

Kate  was  glad  to  hear  you  had  received  the 
letter   about  the  pearl,  for  she  feared  it  might 


have  been  lost.  I  hope  you  can  come  over  with 
your  father,  my  dear,  and  whether  you  do  or 
not,  I  want  you  to  bring  or  send  me  a  good  pic- 
ture of  you  and  your  father  also,  for  Louis,  who 
has  begged  that  he  might  have  them.  He  has 
become  quite  familiar  with  those  I  have  of  you 
both,  and  likes  them  very  much.  Please  do  not 
forget  this,  for  I  have  promised  them  to  him. 

The  weather  is  perfect,  and  our  view  of  the 
Mediterranean  from  our  windows  and  balcony  is 
too  lovely  for  any  description  tb  do  it  justice.  I 
do  hope  Bridget  is  getting  well  fast.  Poor  girl, 
she  has  had  a  hard  time,  and  I  am  so  sorry  for 
her.  Remember  me  to  both  the  girls,  please. 

From  your  letters  and  your  father's,  you  seem 
to  have  had  a  gay  time  in  New  Mexico,  but  by 
this  time  I  suppose  you  have  both  settled  down 
to  business  in  good  earnest,  so  that  the  three 
tramps  can  have  a  good  time  over  here.  Well, 
we  have  worked  pretty  hard  ourselves  some  days, 
especially  when  we  have  ridden  thirty  miles  on 
horseback,  up  and  down  mountains  over  the 
worst  places  you  can  imagine.  But  we  have  en- 
joyed it  all  very,  very  much.  Your  father  never 
could  have  stood  what  we  have  been  through  in 
the  past  month,  and  I  have  lost  a  good  many 
pounds,  only  to  regain  them  now,  when  we  do 
not  have  so  much  exercise.  Kate  proposes  that 
your  father  should  put  the  $1000  wager  to  my 
credit  immediately,  while  I  am  so  much  thinner, 
which  perhaps  would  be  a  very  good  idea. 
Much  love  to  both  of  you,  and  many  thanks  for 


(  240  ) 

your  three  sweet  letters  which  I  found  here  on 
my  arrival.    Take  good  care  of  yourself. 
Your  loving  mother, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

HOTEL  D' ORIENT,   BEIRUT, 
April  26,  1893. 

MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

It  is  only  seven  o'clock,  but  I  am  dressed  and 
sitting  down  to  write  to  you  before  breakfast. 
I  find  that  early  in  the  morning  is  the  only  time 
in  which  I  can  be  uninterrupted,  for  after  the 
day  once  begins  there  are  so  many  distractions. 
To-day  the  other  three  girls  leave  us,  Mary  and 
Janet  Coe  and  Emily  Choate.  They  go  to  Italy, 
and  we  may  see  them  there  before  they  sail  for 
America,  the  latter  part  of  May.  We  will  miss 
them  very  much,  but  thought  we  would  rather 
stay  here  and  rest  than  try  to  go  to  Ischia  or  to 
Castellammare,  just  for  one  week.  The  weather 
is  delightful  here,  and  I  am  sure  Italy  can  have 
no  more  balmy  air  than  this.  I  am  all  right  now, 
but  have  had  a  severe  sore  throat  for  some  days, 
which  made  me  feel  very  ill.  There  are  black 
clouds  this  morning,  but  I  hope  the  girls  will 
not  have  a  stormy  getting  off,  nor  a  rough 
voyage.  They  dread  leaving  us  as  much  as  we 
dread  having  them  go.  They  are  such  charming 
girls  !  I  wish  you  knew  them.  It  seems  odd  to 
think  how  our  fortunes  have  been  united  ever 
since  our  sailing  on  the  Ems.  Our  first  impres- 
sion of  the  quartette  was  intense  admiration  for 


the  way  in  which  they  bore  the  loss  of  their  lug- 
gage. We  thought  them  very  brave  and  plucky 
then,  and  do  so  still. 

Now  that  our  journey  is  over  and  we  do  not 
rush  about  sight-seeing,  my  letters  will  seem  very 
tame  to  you ;  in  fact  I  hardly  know  how  to  go 
about  composing  a  letter.  Last  evening  Dr. 
Bliss  of  the  Beirut  Medical  College  here,  and  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Dale,  came  to  call  upon  us.  We 
found  them  very  charming  people,  and  they 
knew  John  Fisher  very  well  indeed.  It  must  be 
delightful  to  live  in  Beirut.  The  people  are 
so  pleasant  and  intelligent,  and  the  town  and 
its  surroundings  so  very  beautiful.  From  my 
window  I  can  look  on  the  blue  Mediterranean 
and  snow  mountains,  without  changing  my  posi- 
tion. 

I  have  had  a  lot  of  letters  since  arriving  here. 
Edith  Smith,  Dolly  Holden,  Mrs.  Bixby,  Mrs. 
Sawyer,  Hattie  Caldwell,  Lucie  Webber,  Jennie 
Cavers,  Clara  and  Mrs.  Thornburgh,  have  all 
been  represented,  and  I  am  going  to  try  to  get 
once  around  among  my  friends,  but  with  the  few 
chances  I  have  had  for  writing  it  seems  rather 
doubtful.  However,  when  we  go  to  Italy  per- 
haps there  may  be  more  opportunity. 

Alice  and  Kate  are  real  well,  and  seem  to  have 
stood  our  hard  journey  across  country  quite  as 
well  as  the  very  strongest  among  us.  The  more 
I  think  about  it,  the  more  I  realize  what  an 
undertaking  it  was,  and  how  fortunate  we  were 
in  having  a  private  party  and  dragoman  instead 


(    242    ) 

of  going  with  Cook  or  Gaze.  But  I  would  n't 
have  missed  one  minute  of  the  trip  for  anything, 
and  we  did  have  such  a  good  time  with  each 
other.  We  are  quite  belles  here,  for  we  have 
three  dragomans  devoted  to  us,  —  Louis,  of 
course,  and  Michael,  his  assistant,  who  both  live 
in  Beirut,  and  then  Joseph,  the  second  drago- 
man on  the  steamer  Rameses  the  Great.  He 
brought  two  French  generals  across  the  country, 
and  we  met  in  Jerusalem,  Damascus,  and  now 
here,  where  he  lives.  He  wants  us  to  go  to  his 
house  and  have  a  cup  of  tea,  and  of  course  we 
accepted,  for  we  want  to  see  as  much  of  Syrian 
life  as  possible.  Our  group  seems  to  be  quite  a 
success,  so  that  when  you  see  all  our  pictures  you 
will  have  a  pretty  good  idea  of  our  party.  I  have 
sent  a  newspaper  and  the  camping  and  rainy  day 
pictures  wrapped  up  in  it.  Hope  they  will  reach 
you  safely.  I  have  asked  Mrs.  Lavin  to  get 
some  rooms  for  us  near  them  if  she  can,  so  that 
we  may  not  waste  much  time  going  back  and 
forth.  It  will  be  such  a  pleasure  to  see  them 
again,  and  I  only  hope  they  will  not  have  gone 
to  Milan  before  we  get  there.  I  must  write  to 
Lucie  this  morning,  but  have  not  had  a  letter 
from  Gertrude  since  January  23,  and  which  I 
answered  ages  ago.  I  suppose  Mrs.  Scarritt  has 
my  letter  before  now.  Our  letters  crossed  each 
other,  so  we  are  even.  The  little  Fishers  are 
stirring,  so  there  is  hope  that  we  will  have  break- 
fast before  very  long.  What  an  awfully  stupid 
letter,  you  will  say,  and  I  quite  agree  with  you. 


Well,  your  vacation  is  over  and  you  are  set- 
tled down  at  home  again.  I  am  glad  you  had 
such  a  pleasant  party  and  such  a  good  time,  and 
are  so  well.  I  hope  Will  is  well  and  strong,  too. 
Now  we  are  looking  forward  to  June  20  and  to 
meeting  you  in  Queenstown.  Make  your  ar- 
rangements with  Gertrude  and  Lucie  as  to  where 
they  will  join  us,  for  we  think  of  going  to  Lon- 
don and  not  to  Paris,  before  we  meet  you.  Kate 
is  very  anxious  to  be  a  week  or  two  in  London 
and  get  some  dressmaking  done,  besides  some 
other  errands,  but  we  are  not  quite  sure  whether 
we  can  get  to  London  without  going  by  way  of 
Paris;  will  find  out  when  we  reach  Italy.  We 
sail  on  the  French  line  to  Alexandria,  May  3, 
then  change  to  another  steamer  for  Italy,  and  it 
is  all  very  hazy  as  yet  about  the  time  it  will  take, 
etc.,  but  we  expect  to  reach  Florence  about  May 
10.  You  had  better  send  your  letters  from  now 
on  to  the  Alliance  Bank  line,  Liverpool,  and 
notify  the  friends. 

We  must  call  at  Turner's  in  Naples,  if  possi- 
ble, for  any  letters  you  may  have  sent  there. 
Our  letters  have  come  all  right  so  far,  and  we 
can  tell  better  from  here  about  changing  the  ad- 
dress than  you  can  in  America.  Well,  I  must 
stop  and  get  this  ready  to  send  off  to  the  mail. 
Alice  and  Kate  send  much  love  to  you  and  Will. 
I  hope  Bridget  is  doing  well  and  will  soon  be 
all  right  again.  Remember  me  to  both  Bridget 
and  Lizzie.  With  much  love  to  you  and  Will, 
Your  loving  wife, 

LlZZIE    McMlLLAN. 


(  244  ) 

HOUSE  OF  MANSOUR,   BEIRUT, 

April  29,  1893. 
MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

Since  my  last  letter  to  you  on  the  26th,  we 
have  had  an  entirely  new  experience,  in  which 
you  will  be  very  much  interested.  But  first  I 
will  tell  you  about  the  departure  of  Mary  and 
Janet  Coe,  and  Emily  Choate.  They  sailed  on 
Wednesday  afternoon,  and  we  all  went  over  in  a 
small  boat  to  the  steamer  to  see  them  comfort- 
ably settled.  Our  luggage  was  sent  off  during 
the  afternoon,  and  when  we  came  on  shore  again 
Louis  took  us  to  his  house,  where  we  are  to  stay 
a  week,  until  we  leave  for  Italy.  Knowing  how 
lonely  we  would  be  at  the  hotel  after  the  girls  had 
gone,  we  wanted  to  go  to  some  smaller  place  than 
the  hotel,  and  we  also  wanted  to  see  something 
of  Syrian  home  life,  so  when  Louis  said  we  could 
come  to  his  house  we  were  delighted.  I  told  you 
of  our  visit  to  his  family  on  Saturday  last,  how 
nice  they  all  are,  and  about  the  handsome,  cosy 
home.  Well,  we  have  been  here  over  two  days 
now,  and  are  more  and  more  charmed  with  the  peo- 
ple and  our  surroundings.  We  are  really  a  part 
of  the  family  in  everything  excepting  our  meals, 
and  they  insist  on  serving  us  by  ourselves  in 
courses  and  in  great  state.  They  give  us  the 
most  delicious  things  to  eat.  The  cook  is  an  ex- 
cellent one,  and  we  have  one  of  the  waiters  who 
was  in  camp  with  us  to  serve  us,  and  a  young  girl 
besides.  Madame  Mansour,  the  mother,  Madame 
Louis,  the  wife,  and  Madame  Joseph  Aboo,  the 


(  245  ) 

daughter,  received  us  with  open  arms.  They 
load  us  with  the  most  magnificent  roses  from 
their  garden,  feed  us  with  nespoli  from  their 
own  trees,  and  are  devoted  to  us.  Ferida,  the 
daughter  and  only  child,  is  a  very  attractive  girl, 
a  bride  of  a  few  months,  and  the  pride  and 
delight  of  her  father's  heart.  She  has  been  well 
educated,  speaks  French,  and  does  any  amount 
of  fancy  work.  Kate  and  Ferida  are  chums,  and 
Kate  is  teaching  Ferida  to  embroider.  She  is 
very  quick  and  is  learning  rapidly.  We  get  along 
beautifully,  in  spite  of  the  difference  in  language, 
and  then  Louis  is  generally  near  to  interpret  for 
us. 

The  house  is  as  cosy  and  pretty  as  any  one 
could  wish,  but  it  is  of  course  in  Syrian  fashion, 
with  great  divans  running  around  the  rooms,  and 
with  many  and  large  windows,  but  with  few  pic- 
tures or  decorations.  Syrians  like  a  great  deal  of 
light.  The  other  evening  three  young  men,  bro- 
thers of  Louis's  son-in-law,  who  is  very  nice  in- 
deed, came  to  call  upon  the  family  and  upon  us, 
and  it  did  look  very  odd  to  see  all  the  men  sit- 
ting around  the  room  wearing  their  fezes.  In 
saluting  they  touch  the  head,  but  do  not  remove 
the  hat,  and  in  all  the  months  we  have  known 
Louis  we  have  scarcely  ever  seen  him  without  his 
fez.  After  several  hints  from  Louis  that  night, 
we  found  that  we  were  expected  to  say  good-night 
to  the  callers  and  go  to  our  rooms,  otherwise  they 
would  have  stayed  all  night. 

We  are  enjoying   this   novel  life  very  much 


indeed,  and  will  be  sorry  to  have  it  over.  We  go 
down  town  nearly  every  morning  to  do  shop- 
ping, etc.,  and  generally  have  a  drive  in  the 
afternoon.  It  is  a  beautiful  country,  and  Beirut, 
having  both  mountains  and  sea,  is  a  most  charm- 
ing spot.  It  is  a  large  place,  containing  about 
200,000  people  and  many  handsome  residences 
and  public  buildings.  The  Medical  College 
grounds  and  buildings  are  very  fine,  standing  on 
a  hill  overlooking  the  sea.  The  weather  is  per- 
fect, sunny  and  warm  during  the  day,  but  cool 
mornings  and  evenings.  From  one  of  my  win- 
dows I  am  looking  out  upon  green  gardens  below 
and  snow  mountains  above,  and  the  sun  is  shin- 
ing brightly  on  me.  The  other  windows  look 
out  on  the  court,  where  Louis  has  built  a  num- 
ber of  small  houses,  which  he  rents  to  poor  but 
nice  people,  who  all  seem  to  take  a  great  deal 
of  interest  in  us.  The  garden  is  full  of  trees, 
shrubs,  and  flowers,  and  the  air  is  sweet  with  the 
perfume  of  the  roses  and  orange  blossoms.  I  am 
going  to  bring  some  nespolo  seeds  home  with 
me  to  have  planted  at  Eddy.  It  seems  to  me 
they  could  be  raised  there  nicely,  —  anyway  we 
can  try  it. 

We  now  hope  to  get  a  steamer  May  4,  which 
will  take  us  to  Italy  without  too  many  changes. 
We  will  probably  have  to  stay  a  day  or  two  in 
Alexandria  and  then  go  to  Brindisi  from  there, 
taking  train  from  Brindisi  to  Florence,  without 
going  to  Naples.  Boats  are  such  uncertain  things 
over  here  that  one  can  never  tell  long  before  what 


(  247  ) 

can  be  done.  I  have  been  waiting  for  an  hour, 
and  now  Louis  has  just  called  Alice  and  Kate. 
The  family  have  been  up  for  hours.  They  are 
early  risers  and  very  industrious.  My  camping 
habits  still  cling  to  me,  so  I  generally  get  up  at 
six  and  do  any  writing  or  work  which  may  be 
necessary  before  the  others  are  stirring.  A  mail 
comes  in  to-day,  so  we  will  hope  to  get  some 
letters  from  home.  We  are  going  to  pay  the 
same  here  as  at  the  hotel,  and  very  properly  too, 
for  we  get  a  great  deal  more  for  our  money  here 
than  we  did  at  the  hotel.  We  told  Louis  we 
would  not  come  to  his  house  unless  we  could 
pay  hotel  rates,  so  he  finally  consented  to  our 
doing  it. 

I  hope  Bridget  is  doing  well,  but  cannot  help 
feeling  anxious  until  I  hear  again.  Hoping  you 
are  all  well  and  happy,  with  much  love  to  both 
Will  and  you,  and  warm  remembrances  to  all 
friends, 

Your  loving  wife, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

ALEXANDRIA,  EGYPT, 
May  7,  1893. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

When  I  wrote  you  last  we  were  in  Beirut, 
Syria ;  now  we  are  in  Egypt  again  for  a  few  days. 
It  does  not  seem  possible  that  it  is  less  than  four 
months  since  we  landed  in  Alexandria  for  the  first 
time ;  I  feel  so  wonderfully  well  acquainted  with 
the  country  and  the  people  that  I  seem  to  have 


lived  in  this  part  of  the  world  always.  I  am  afraid 
that  the  Continent  will  look  very  tame  to  us  when 
we  no  longer  see  the  picturesque  and  gayly  col- 
ored Oriental  dress  on  the  streets  of  the  cities 
we  visit.  However,  we  will  get  used  to  European 
clothes  as  we  became  accustomed  to  eastern  cos- 
tumes, and  it  will  be  very  delightful  to  meet  old 
friends  in  Florence,  Paris,  and  London,  as  we  ex- 
pect to  do  in  a  few  weeks.  I  cannot  begin  to  tell 
you  of  the  good  time  we  had  in  Beirut,  or  how 
sorry  we  were  to  part  from  Louis  and  his  family. 
They  were  so  good  to  us,  and  we  feel  that  we 
have  left  true  friends  behind  us  in  leaving  them. 
We  went  to  the  American  church  last  Sunday 
morning,  and  heard  a  beautiful  sermon  and  the 
old  familiar  hymns  for  the  first  time  since  leav- 
ing Cairo,  the  middle  of  March.  Beirut  became 
rather  warm  before  we  left  it,  although  it  is  situ- 
ated on  the  sea,  and  we  could  not  have  remained 
there  comfortably  much  longer.  We  sailed  on 
the  Austrian  Lloyd  steamer  May  4,  and  arrived 
here  this  morning.  We  stopped  a  few  hours  both 
at  Jaffa  and  Port  Said,  but  went  on  shore  only 
at  the  latter  place.  The  sea  was  perfectly  smooth 
all  the  way,  the  weather  perfect,  the  ship  large, 
well  managed,  clean  and  comfortable,  the  service 
excellent,  and  the  table  all  any  one  could  de- 
sire. We  stay  here  two  days,  coaling  up  and 
taking  in  cargo.  Tuesday  morning  we  start  for 
Brindisi  and  Trieste.  The  steamer  makes  no  pro- 
vision for  passengers  while  in  this  port,  so  we 
are  staying  at  the  hotel,  where  we  are  nicely  set- 


(  249  ) 

tied,  and  will  go  on  board  to-morrow  evening. 
We  will  reach  Brindisi,  Italy,  on  Friday,  and 
Trieste,  Austria,  on  Saturday.  From  there  we 
connect  with  a  boat  for  Venice,  and  after  spend- 
ing a  couple  of  days  in  that  fascinating  city  will 
take  train  for  Florence,  where  we  hope  to  arrive 
about  the  i8th.  So  far,  our  water  journey  has 
been  a  real  pleasure  trip,  and  I  hope  it  will  con- 
tinue to  be  so  all  the  rest  of  the  way.  At  Port 
Said  we  had  a  row  in  the  harbor  and  a  little  way 
into  the  Suez  Canal.  A  young  Englishman,  who 
has  lived  in  Beirut  and  is  on  his  way  to  Venice, 
invited  us  to  go  with  him,  and  it  was  a  great 
pleasure  to  us.  There  are  a  few  very  pleasant 
people  on  the  steamer,  and  they  are  all  at  our 
table.  The  others  are  Germans,  —  men,  women, 
and  priests,  all  fat  and  ugly.  The  weather  is 
lovely  here,  neither  hot  nor  cold,  but  bright  and 
beautiful.  It  sounded  very  cheery  this  morning 
to  hear  the  church  chimes,  and  in  listening  to 
them  I  could  scarcely  believe  myself  in  a  Mo- 
hammedan country.  When  we  reach  Italy  we 
will  feel  as.  if  quite  near  home.  When  we  real- 
ize that  it  takes  ten  days  to  go  from  Beirut  to 
Venice,  not  allowing  for  any  delays  whatever,  we 
feel  how  far  from  home  and  friends  we  have  been. 
Now  the  distance  will  grow  shorter  each  day, 
until,  having  reached  Florence,  our  letters  will  go 
to  America  in  two  weeks  instead  of  four.  It  will 
make  quite  a  difference,  and  our  letters  will  seem 
almost  like  telegraphic  dispatches,  they  will  ar- 
rive with  such  speed  and  promptness. 


We  are  looking  forward  to  the  end  of  June  as 
the  time  when  William  will  probably  arrive,  and 
our  arrangements  are  already  made  to  meet  him 
at  Liverpool.  The  three  young  ladies  who  left 
Beirut  eight  days  before  us  were  in  this  hotel, 
and  sailed  for  Malta  and  Naples  last  Wednesday. 
They  are  to  reach  Naples  to-morrow,  and  we  hope 
to  see  them  in  Florence  before  they  start  for 
America.  We  are  all  well,  I  am  thankful  to  say. 
Perhaps  the  reason  I  have  said  nothing  about  my 
health  was  because  I  was  always  well.  I  am  much 
thinner  than  when  I  left  home,  owing  to  the  hard 
trip  across  Syria  and  Palestine,  but  otherwise  am 
perfectly  well,  so  you  need  not  worry  about  me. 
After  this  my  letters  will  be  very  humdrum 
affairs,  for  having  once  written  up  Florence,  and 
the  Continent  generally,  it  will  not  be  necessary 
to  do  it  again. 

I  suppose  the  Chicago  Exposition  has  opened 
grandly,  and  the  whole  country  is  interested  and 
excited  over  it.  Cairo  and  Beirut  will  be  well 
represented  there,  and  I  will  be  more  interested 
in  seeing  that  part  of  the  great  show  than  in  any 
of  the  home  productions.  We  are  going  for  a 
drive,  after  a  while,  so  I  must  bid  you  good-by. 
Much  love  to  you  and  to  the  family  and  friends. 
Your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE    McMlLLAN. 


MEDITERRANEAN  SEA,   STEAMER  VORWAERTS, 
May  12,  1893. 

MY  DEAR  FATHER: 

Since  writing  you  on  Sunday  from  Alexandria, 
we  have  been  coming  steadily  nearer  home  and 
friends,  but  we  are  still  quite  a  long  distance  from 
our  native  land.  Monday  was  a  very  hot  day  in 
Alexandria,  being  91  at  noon  and  over  100  be- 
tween two  and  three  o'clock,  but  being  a  dry  heat 
we  did  not  feel  it  so  very  much,  after  all. 

About  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we  came 
on  board  our  good  ship  again,  and  besides  our- 
selves there  was  just  one  passenger  who  spent  the 
night  on  board.  Tuesday  morning  at  nine  we 
sailed,  and  as  soon  as  we  were  out  of  the  harbor 
we  found  ourselves  in  a  rough  sea  which  soon 
sent  everybody  below.  At  dinner,  Tuesday  even- 
ing, only  five  out  of  the  thirty  passengers  came 
to  the  table,  and  we  were  not  among  them.  Wed- 
nesday morning  the  sea  was  smooth  again,  and 
has  been  almost  like  a  mirror  ever  since.  We 
have  enjoyed  sitting  on  deck  very  much,  for  the 
air  is  balmy  and  delicious,  and  the  canvas  awn- 
ing keeps  off  sun,  wind,  and  moisture,  while  the 
deck  chairs  are  most  comfortable. 

This  morning  early  we  arrived  at  Brindisi  on 
the  coast  of  Italy.  It  is  where  we  had  intended 
leaving  the  boat,  but  the  long  railway  journey  we 
should  have  to  Florence  so  discouraged  us  that 
we  made  up  our  minds  to  go  on  to  Venice.  We 
will  reach  Trieste,  on  the  Austrian  coast,  at  three 
o'clock  to-morrow  afternoon,  and  will  then  change 


to  another  boat,  which  will  land  us  in  Venice  on 
Sunday  morning.  From  Venice  we  will  only  be 
a  few  hours  from  Florence  by  rail.  Nothing 
could  be  more  delightful  than  this  whole  voy- 
age from  Beirut,  with  the  exception  of  that  one 
day  after  leaving  Alexandria.  We  consider  our- 
selves most  fortunate  in  having  taken  passage 
from  Beirut  on  the  only  boat  which  has  gone 
directly  through  to  Trieste  this  year.  Being  so 
late  in  the  year  there  are  very  few  passengers, 
and  the  boat  is  all  the  more  pleasant  on  that  ac- 
count. Those  who  are  here  are  very  agreeable, 
and  we  have  made  some  charming  acquaintances, 
but  we  always  find  nice  people  wherever  we  go, 
and  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  there  are  a 
great  many  such  in  the  world.  When  we  get  to 
Florence  and  realize  that  it  only  takes  our  letters 
two  weeks  to  go  or  come,  we  will  feel  quite  near 
you  all,  but  I  fear  my  letters  will  not  be  very 
interesting  to  you,  for  there  will  be  nothing  new 
and  strange  to  relate. 

Mrs.  Fisher  and  I  have  been  comparing  our 
journals  and  talking  over  the  experiences  of  the 
past  few  months,  and  we  became  so  excited  and 
enthusiastic  over  them  that  we  thought  it  would 
be  charming  to  go  all  over  them  again.  Who 
knows,  perhaps  we  may  come  over  here  again 
some  day.  If  the  ocean  would  behave  as  well  as 
the  Mediterranean  has  for  the  past  week,  it  would 
be  mere  play  to  cross  it. 

We  are  getting  some  letters  ready  to  mail  at 
Trieste  to-morrow,  and  I  will  not  close  my  epistle 


(  253  ) 

now,  in  case  there  should  be  something  more  to 
say  before  that  time.  It  is  almost  time  for  after- 
noon tea,  and  it  is  astonishing  how  welcome  the 
four  meals  daily  are  to  all  of  us. 

VENICE,  ITALY,  May  14. 

Yesterday  morning  was  rather  uncomfortable 
on  the  boat,  as  the  wind  carried  us  to  one  side, 
although  it  was  not  rough.  By  the  time  we  neared 
the  Austrian  coast  and  came  to  a  level  keel  again, 
it  was  time  to  get  packed  up,  ready  to  change 
boats  at  Trieste,  so  I  did  not  have  an  opportunity 
to  finish  my  letter  and  mail  it  in  Austria,  as  I 
had  intended.  We  reached  Trieste  about  four 
o'clock  yesterday,  but  by  the  time  we  had  trans- 
ferred all  our  belongings  across  the  harbor  to  the 
corresponding  Austrian  Lloyd  boat  for  Venice 
it  was  six  o'clock,  so  we  went  on  shore  with  an 
English  judge  and  his  wife,  and  had  dinner  at 
a  hotel.  During  the  evening  we  had  a  ride  in 
the  street  cars,  a  walk  on  one  of  the  promenade 
streets,  and  attended  a  concert  at  one  of  the  cafes. 
Our  boat  did  not  sail  until  midnight,  so  we  pre- 
ferred staying  on  shore  as  long  as  possible.  We 
had  a  very  comfortable  night,  and  at  six  this 
morning  were  coming  into  Venice,  which  never 
looks  so  well  as  when  approached  by  water.  It 
was  a  lovely  morning,  and  the  city  on  the  water 
looked  most  fascinating  and  picturesque.  We  are 
nicely  situated  here,  but  our  English  friends  are 
at  another  hotel  near  by,  as  we  could  not  all  be 
accommodated  in  the  same  one,  on  account  of 


the  city  being  quite  full  of  visitors  at  present. 
My  room  overlooks  the  "  Grand  Canal,"  and 
just  opposite  my  windows,  only  a  few  rods  away, 
is  anchored  a  royal  yacht  with  the  Princess  of 
Wales  on  board.  The  water  is  alive  with  gay 
gondolas,  sailboats  with  gay-colored  sails,  ferry 
boats,  and  great  steamers  anchored  here  and  there. 
It  is  a  sight  well  worth  seeing,  and  once  seen, 
would  be  always  remembered.  Kate  has  gone  out 
to  the  great  church  of  St.  Mark  with  Judge  and 
Mrs.  Harnnett.  Alice  is  resting,  and  after  a  bath 
and  fresh  clothes  I  feel  equal  to  attending  to  some 
of  my  neglected  correspondence. 

We  will  be  here  perhaps  until  Wednesday,  and 
can  go  to  Florence  in  about  nine  hours,  so  about 
Thursday  we  will  be  domesticated  there  for  a 
couple  of  weeks.  It  is  almost  exactly  ten  years 
since  I  was  here  before,  and  everything  looks 
quite  natural. 

Love  to  all  friends  and  relatives,  and  a  great 
deal  for  your  dear  self. 

Your  loving  daughter, 

'LlZZIE  McMlLLAN. 

HOTEL  ROYAL  DANIELI,   VENICE, 

May  17,  1893. 
MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

I  wrote  Will  on  Monday,  when  we  had  scarcely 
begun  to  enjoy  Venice.  I  do  not  know  why,  but 
it  seems  so  much  more  beautiful  and  fresh  and 
fascinating  than  it  did  ten  years  ago,  and  more 
wonderful  too.  Perhaps  it  is  because  we  have 


had  perfect  weather,  beautiful  sunshine,  and  fresh 
ocean  breezes  ;  and  if  you  remember  it  was  hot 
and  rainy  when  we  were  here  before.  Then  I 
was  sick  at  that  time,  and  now  am  perfectly 
well. 

Monday  A.  M.  Kate  and  I  went  to  one  of 
the  largest  lace  and  brocade  manufactories  on 
the  Grand  Canal,  where  we  saw  girls  making  the 
finest  of  point  laces,  and  most  beautiful  silk  em- 
broideries. The  show  and  sales  rooms  are  very 
tempting  indeed,  but  I  only  got  a  few  little  things 
for  myself,  and  some  brocade  for  sofa  cushions 
for  the  house.  At  noon  we  came  back  in  our 
gondola  for  Alice,  and  went  over  to  the  square  to 
Florian's  famous  restaurant  for  lunch.  In  the 
afternoon  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harnnett  joined  us  and 
we  went  over  to  the  Island  of  Murano  to  see  one 
of  the  glass  manufactories.  We  were  allowed  to 
see  the  workers  shaping  the  melted  glass  into  all 
sorts  of  beautiful  vases,  which  was  most  interest- 
ing. We  also  visited  an  old  church,  where  there 
is  an  old  mosaic  floor  which  compares  well  with 
that  in  St.  Mark's.  Then  we  came  home,  having 
enjoyed  the  afternoon  very  much.  St.  Mark's 
church  has  been  renovated  since  we  saw  it,  and 
its  frescoes  and  splendid  mosaics,  both  inside 
and  out,  are  now  magnificent.  The  whole  square 
is  splendid  with  its  great  pillars  at  the  entrance, 
the  Doges'  Palace,  the  grand  old  church,  the 
clock  tower,  and  bell  tower. 

Yesterday  morning  Mr.  Harnnett  came  for  us 
before  eight  o'clock,  and  as  the  bells  clanged  out 


(*$«) 

the  hour  we  were  up  among  them  in  the  bell 
tower.  We  had  a  splendid  view  of  the  city,  canal, 
and  lagoons ;  also  the  numerous  islands,  and  the 
water  craft  everywhere,  and  got  home  at  nine 
o'clock,  just  as  Kate  and  Alice  were  ready  for 
breakfast.  Afterwards  they  went  out  into  the 
square,  but  I  stayed  at  home  to  write  some  letters. 
At  noon  I  joined  them  at  another  famous  restau- 
rant on  the  square,  and  we  had  lunch  there.  At 
two  o'clock  the  Harnnetts  met  us  and  we  took  a 
gondola  over  to  the  "  Lido."  It  was  a  delicious 
air  on  the  water,  and  when  we  reached  the  island 
we  found  horse  cars  and  two  or  three  carriages. 
We  patronized  the  former,  and  rode  through  a 
leafy  arch  formed  by  locust  trees  in  full  bloom, 
across  the  island  to  the  ocean  side,  where  there 
are  great  concert  rooms  and  verandas  overlook- 
ing the  bathing  beach.  The  music  was  going  on, 
so  we  took  seats  near  the  water,  ordered  some  tea 
and  lemonade,  and  while  listening  to  the  music 
watched  the  people  and  bathers.  We  got  home 
about  five,  and  after  dinner  Alice,  Kate,  and  I  went 
over  to  the  square,  and  up  into  the  show-rooms 
of  one  of  the  finest  glass  works.  They  were 
lighted  by  electricity,  and  I  never  imagined  there 
could  be  such  beautiful  glass  as  we  saw  there. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harnnett  were  to  have  joined  us 
somewhere  in  the  square,  but  we  missed  them,  so 
about  nine  o'clock  we  had  an  ice  and  came  home. 
This  is  another  beautiful  morning,  and  we  will 
have  another  fascinating  day  here,  before  starting 
for  Florence  to-morrow  morning.  The  journey 


over  there  will  be  very  pleasant,  I  am  sure,  start- 
ing as  we  will  at  ten  o'clock  and  getting  there 
at  6  P.  M.  We  can  endure  eight  hours  on  the 
train  very  comfortably.  It  is  the  night  travel,  in 
these  countries,  that  is  so  wearing.  Just  after  an 
early  dinner  last  night,  we  three  took  a  gondola 
and  went  the  whole  length  of  the  Grand  Canal, 
then  back  as  far  as  the  Rialto,  and  home  by  the 
little  canals.  Our  boatman,  who  has  now  been 
with  us  since  Monday,  showed  us  all  the  noted  old 
palaces.  We  saw  where  Desdemona  lived,  where 
Lord  Byron  lived,  Browning's  palace,  the  place 
where  Victor  Emmanuel  stayed  twice,  when  he  was 
here ;  Lucrezia  Borgia's  palace,  and  many  others. 
We  also  saw  the  first  palace  ever  built  in  Venice,  and 
it  did  look  very  ancient.  We  rowed  around  the 
royal  yacht,  but  did  not  see  the  Princess.  The 
yacht  is  still  here,  although  we  heard  it  was  to 
leave  yesterday.  We  have  a  good  deal  to  do  to- 
day, and  do  not  expect  to  meet  the  Harnnetts 
until  evening.  They  are  so  pleasant  and  compan- 
ionable that  they  remind  me  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Sevier,  who  spent  some  weeks  traveling  with 
us  three  years  ago.  When  English  people  are 
nice,  they  are  usually  very  nice,  and  we  have 
had  some  very  pleasant  experiences  in  that 
way. 

I  wish  you  might  be  here;  you  would  enjoy 
it  so  much,  especially  the  gondola  part  of  our 
life  here.  We  have  such  a  nice  gondolier,  and 
his  name  is  Louis,  so  we  have  no  trouble  in 
remembering  it.  Our  hotel  is  several  squares 


from  the  Grand  Hotel,  according  to  home  reck- 
oning. The  bridges  over  the  little  canals  are  very 
frequent,  and  the  side  canals  run  in  all  sorts  of 
directions.  Even  the  Grand  Canal  is  very  serpen- 
tine in  form,  so  that  when  we  go  the  whole  length 
of  it,  and  are  considerably  over  an  hour  in  doing 
it,  by  taking  side  canals  we  can  reach  the  hotel  in 
a  very  few  minutes.  I  begin  to  think  we  may 
find  Florence  rather  hot,  and  if  it  should  prove 
so,  we  may  go  on  to  London  sooner  than  we  had 
planned.  I  am  so  anxious  to  get  letters,  and  yet 
rather  dread  it,  for  fear  of  hearing  something  un- 
pleasant, I  know  not  what.  However,  I  will  not 
worry,  but  make  up  my  mind  that  everything 
will  be  all  right. 

Alice  and  Kate  send  love  to  you  and  Will. 
Give  my  warm  love  to  the  dear  boy,  and  accept 
a  great  deal  yourself,  from 

Your  loving  wife, 

LlZZIE    McMlLLAN. 

PENSION  CHAPMAN,   FLORENCE,  ITALY, 

May  21,  1893. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER  : 

I  found  three  letters  from  you,  two  of  them 
having  inclosures  from  Ella  and  one  from  Grace 
Kingston.  The  dates  were  April  7, 14,  and  May  i . 
It  looks  as  if  I  had  missed  one  letter  between 
April  14  and  May  i.  Don't  you  find  my  plan 
of  numbering  the  letters  a  good  one  ?  and  then 
if  one  goes  astray  you  know  it  at  once. 

It  was  very  pleasant,  after  having  no  news  for 


(  259  ) 

nearly  a  month,  to  learn  that  you  were  all  well 
less  than  three  weeks  ago.  William  and  Will 
expect  to  sail  for  Europe  June  14,  and  our  plans 
are  being  completed  for  meeting  them  in  Liver- 
pool, as  we  did  three  years  ago.  My  last  letter 
to  you  was  finished  in  Venice  a  week  ago  to-day. 
We  enjoyed  that  charming  city  very  much,  and 
spent  a  good  deal  of  our  time  in  a  gondola, 
gliding  over  the  Grand  Canal,  between  the  solid 
rows  of  handsome  old  palaces,  which  now  are 
either  hotels  or  the  residences  of  ordinary  people. 
We  did  not  try  to  do  much  sight-seeing,  none  of 
us  feeling  quite  equal  to  great  exertion,  but  we 
visited  a  large  glass  manufactory  on  one  of  the 
numerous  islands  of  the  Adriatic  and  saw  the 
skillful  workmen  mould  the  melted  glass  into 
many  odd  and  beautiful  shapes.  The  great  square 
of  St.  Mark's,  with  the  Doges'  Palace,  the  mag- 
nificent church  of  St.  Mark's,  and  its  tall  and 
stately  bell  tower,  seemed  even  more  wonderful 
than  it  did  ten  years  ago,  and  the  rows  of  fasci- 
nating shops  around  the  square  are  very  tempting 
to  a  lover  of  pretty  things.  Our  English  friend, 
Mr.  Harnnett,  climbed  with  me  to  the  top  of  the 
bell  tower,  and  just  as  we  reached  the  last  step 
the  bells  rang  out  the  hour  of  eight  o'clock.  We 
had  a  magnificent  view  of  the  city  and  all  its 
devious  waterways  built  of  canals,  great  and  small, 
and  channels  leading  seaward.  We  spent  nearly 
an  hour  up  there,  examining  the  view  from  every 
point  of  the  compass,  and  enjoying  the  pure  fresh 
air  we  had  from  the  sea.  At  nine  o'clock  I  was 


back  in  our  hotel,  ready  to  take   breakfast  with 
the  Fishers. 

Thursday  morning  we  left  Venice  with  regret, 
for  we  were  leaving  pleasant  friends  behind,  as 
well  as  a  beautiful  city,  and  after  eight  hours  of 
comfortable  journey  on  the  cars,  reached  Florence 
at  6.30  in  the  evening.  We  found  that  our  friends 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lavin  had  gone  away,  but  two  of 
the  young  ladies  of  our  Palestine  party  were  here 
in  this  house.  We  were  the  more  delighted  to 
find  them,  because  we  scarcely  hoped  for  that 
pleasure,  as  we  were  ten  days  longer  in  reaching 
Florence  than  we  had  expected  to  be.  We  have 
had  a  nice  visit  with  them,  and  will  miss  them 
sadly  when  they  go  away  this  afternoon.  We  will 
be  here  until  May  31,  probably,  and  will  then  go 
to  Paris  by  way  of  Milan  and  Basle,  stopping  a 
night  in  each  place,  instead  of  going  straight 
through  and  having  a  night  on  the  train.  Our 
railroad  journey  from  Venice  to  Florence  was  our 
third  on  the  cars  since  we  left  New  York.  Con- 
sidering what  poor  sailors  we  are,  we  certainly 
have  done  a  good  deal  of  traveling  by  water 
during  the  past  five  months.  June  7  we  expect 
to  be  in  London,  where  we  hope  to  be  with  our 
friends  the  H oldens,  from  Batavia,  for  ten  days 
or  more,  and  then  we  will  get  to  Liverpool  not 
later  than  the  2Oth  in  order  to  be  on  deck  when 
the  good  ship  the  Majestic  comes  in  with  William 
and  Will  on  board,  scanning  the  faces  of  the 
people  on  shore  to  discover  the  three  tramps.  I 
am  so  glad  Will  is  coming  over  too,  for  he  would 


have  been  rather  forlorn  if  left  at  home  by  him- 
self. 

Here  in  Florence  we  mean  to  take  things  easy, 
and  not  do  any  sight-seeing,  but  we  have  lots  of 
packing  to  do,  as  some  of  our  trunks  are  to  be 
shipped  directly  to  Liverpool  to  avoid  trouble 
with  the  customs  at  Paris,  and  then  we  have  some 
shopping  to  do,  and  I  at  least  have  any  number 
of  letters  to  write.  My  mail  contained  thirty-four 
letters,  and  that  means  work  for  some  time  to 
come.  I  have  not  written  half  as  many  letters  as 
I  did  three  years  ago  ;  it  was  simply  impossible, 
especially  on  the  Nile  and  in  Palestine,  to  do  any 
letter-writing  which  was  not  absolutely  necessary, 
and  if  my  friends  think  I  have  neglected  them, 
I  cannot  help  it.  This  is  a  lovely  day,  but  we 
are  not  going  out.  It  is  pleasant  to  have  reached 
a  place  where  we  can  quietly  remain  in  the  house 
without  feeling  that  we  are  missing  the  best  thing 
in  Europe. 

I  wish  I  could  see  your  dear  face  as  soon  as  I 
see  William  and  Will,  but  as  that  is  out  of  the 
question,  accept  a  great  deal  of  love  for  you  and 
all  the  friends  and  relatives. 

From  your  loving  daughter, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

PENSION  CHAPMAN,  FLORENCE,  ITALY, 

May  28,  1893. 
MY  DEAR  WILL  : 

I  find  that  I  have  sent  you  one  more  letter 
than  was  credited  to  me  on  my  book.  If  you  had 


(    262    ) 

been  away  from  your  father  I  would  have  written 
to  you  more  frequently,  but  knowing  you  were 
together  and  that  you  would  read  all  my  letters, 
it  seemed  unnecessary  to  write  more  than  once  a 
week,  or  ten  days.  I  have  had  just  13  letters 
from  you,  and  28  from  your  father,  have  sent  31 
to  your  father,  a  letter  to  one  of  you  every  three 
days  since  leaving  New  York.  We  are  all  so  glad 
that  the  time  is  drawing  near  when  we  shall  see 
you  again,  and  we  will  be  on  the  dock  to  meet  you 
as  we  were  last  time.  I  hope  you  will  look  as  well 
as  my  friends  tell  me  you  do,  and  that  the  lovely 
summer  we  are  going  to  have  will  do  you  lots  of 
good  in  every  way. 

We  have  just  had  a  letter  from  Mary  Coe, 
written  as  soon  as  they  reached  Paris,  telling  us 
their  whole  party  would  sail  on  Saturday,  several 
days  before  they  expected  to  start  for  America. 
So  they  are  on  the  ocean  now,  and  we  could  not 
send  them  a  letter  of  good-by  to  the  ship,  as  we 
had  planned. 

I  hope  old  Neptune  will  treat  you  well,  com- 
ing over,  but  his  mood  is  ever  changeable,  and 
you  may  find  him  in  good  humor  and  you  may 
not.  However,  we  will  hope  for  the  best,  and 
that  is  all  one  can  do  anyway. 

Kate  has  written  to  you  about  the  pearls  and 
turquoise  she  has  bought  for  you,  and  I  am  sure 
you  will  like  them,  they  are  so  beautiful.  Your 
father's  photograph  and  yours  are  on  the  bureau 
opposite  me ;  and  it  makes  me  so  glad,  every  time 
I  look  at  them,  to  think  of  seeing  you  in  less 


than  four  weeks.  Will  we  have  a  walk  at  Bettws- 
y-coed,  do  you  think,  as  we  did  three  years  ago  ? 
Do  you  remember  the  pace  we  took  coming 
home  ?  a  mile  in  fifteen  minutes,  I  believe.  I 
wonder  if  I  could  do  it  now.  We  are  anticipating 
the  pleasure  we  are  to  have  the  latter  part  of  this 
week  in  meeting  Gertrude,  Lucie,  and  Mamie, 
also  your  friend,  Billy  Lavin. 

I  was  afraid  to  send  this  to  St.  Louis,  for  fear 
of  missing  you,  but  there  may  have  been  time  for 
it  to  go  there.  Anyway,  it  will  be  a  last  greet- 
ing to  you,  ere  you  sail,  and  loving  wishes  for 
a  "  bon  voyage"  for  you  both.  Hoping  you  will 
have  the  best  trip  you  ever  had,  with  a  great 
deal  of  love, 

Your  affectionate  mother, 

LlZZIE   McMlLLAN. 

Will  write  your  father  also,  to  the  Windsor 
Hotel. 

BASLE,  SWITZERLAND,  HOTEL  VICTORIA, 
June  2,  1893. 

MY  DEAR  WILLIAM  : 

According  to  our  plan,  we  left  Florence  on 
Wednesday,  jist,  at  2.30  p.  M.  Miss  Leggett 
came  with  us,  as  she  wanted  to  get  to  Paris,  and 
was  very  glad  to  come  under  the  wing  of  people 
who  knew  how  to  travel,  and  to  do  it  comfort- 
ably. At  the  station  she  introduced  us  to  some 
friends  of  hers  who  had  been  very  good  to  her  in 
Greece,  and  they  turned  out  to  be  Lucie  Web- 
ber's  friends,  the  Spragues,  for  whom  we  have 


been  looking  all  winter.  Unfortunately  they 
were  going  to  Venice  and  we  to  Milan,  so  we 
only  had  a  few  minutes  to  chat,  but  at  any  rate, 
I  can  tell  Lucie  to-night  that  I  have  seen  her 
friends  at  last. 

We  had  a  severe  thunderstorm  at  Florence, 
just  as  we  were  leaving,  but  having  started  early 
in  order  to  attend  to  the  luggage,  we  were  not 
out  in  it.  Wednesday  afternoon  we  passed 
through  Parma.  Do  you  remember  it  was  the 
first  Italian  city  we  ever  visited,  and  what  a  funny 
old  hotel  it  was  there?  We  reached  Milan  at 
9.30  and  went  to  a  hotel  in  the  Cathedral  Square, 
as  we  wanted  to  see  the  church  again.  As  soon 
as  our  rooms  were  secured,  we  all  went  over  to 
the  Arcade  for  a  little  while,  knowing  it  would 
look  finer  at  night  than  by  day,  and  also  fear- 
ing we  would  not  have  time  to  go  there  in  the 
morning.  Yesterday  morning,  Miss  Leggettand 
I  had  breakfast  at  7.30,  and  at  eight  were  in  the 
church,  admiring  its  beauty  and  fine  proportions ; 
already  there  were  many  people  in  the  church, 
which  was  draped,  as  the  fete  of  Corpus  Christi 
was  being  celebrated,  and  a  service  was  in  progress 
in  one  of  the  chapels.  There  we  went,  and  listened 
to  the  fine  music  for  a  while,  and  then  we  mounted 
to  the  roof,  and  took  in  the  exquisite  and  elabo- 
rate work  up  there.  The  spires  and  the  statues 
were  more  beautiful  than  I  remembered  them  to 
be,  but  we  had  not  long  to  enjoy  them,  as  trains 
wait  for  no  man.  Downstairs  we  encountered 
Alice  and  Kate  and  soon  we  returned  to  the  hotel, 


where  the  'bus  was  waiting  to  take  us  to  the  sta- 
tion. We  had  a  most  delightful  day  yesterday. 
We  had  a  boudoir  car,  and  when  we  got  in  we 
found  a  gentleman  in  our  compartment,  whom 
we  at  first  took  to  be  English,  and  who  we  thought 
was  not  very  much  pleased  to  see  four  women 
with  numerous  bags  invade  his  sanctuary.  How- 
ever, we  paid  no  attention  to  him,  and  presently, 
after  carefully  inspecting  us,  he  made  the  first 
advances,  in  the  way  of  some  information,  and 
then  putting  up  the  window  for  us.  He  turned 
out  to  be  a  Russian  and  a  military  attache  of 
Washington,  evidently  some  man  of  rank  and 
importance,  although  we  did  not  ascertain  his 
name.  He  knows  James.  He  was  most  pleasant 
and  companionable  all  day,  and  added  much  to 
our  enjoyment  of  the  journey.  He  went  on  last 
night,  and  expected  to  reach  London  this  P.  M. 

We  had  magnificent  scenery  all  day,  which  you 
can  easily  believe  when  I  tell  you  that  we  saw 
Lakes  Como,  Lugano,  Lucerne,  and  Zug,  and 
had  glimpses  of  snow  mountains  frequently.  We 
arrived  here  at  nine  last  night,  and  found  the  Vic- 
toria Hotel,  just  across  the  street  from  the  station, 
very  comfortable  indeed.  I  am,  as  usual,  writing 
while  waiting  breakfast  for  the  others,  and  will 
mail  this  to-night  at  Paris,  where  we  expect  to  be 
at  six  o'clock.  We  are  to  send  a  message  to 
Gertrude,  but  will  tell  her  not  to  meet  us,  as  the 
station  is  a  long  distance  from  their  house.  Will 
add  a  few  words  on  our  arrival,  and  mail  in  the 
station  if  possible. 


(  266  ) 

May  the  winds  and  waves  be  very  kind  to  you, 
and  bring  you  to  me  in  good  health  and  spirits. 
Am  longing  to  see  you. 

Your  loving  wife, 

LlZZIE    McMlLLAN. 

Alice  and  Kate  were  going  to  write  to  you  last 
night. 

PARIS,  6.16. 

All  safe  in  Paris.  The  Lavins  and  Gertrude 
met  us.  All  send  love.  Adieu. 

LIZZIE. 


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